Since I Don't Have You
by swedishsweetheart
Summary: Circumstances brings Boone & Claire together after they have been rescued from the Island. AU, takes places after Homecoming.
1. Prolouge

_**Since I Don't Have You**_

**Prologue **

"Hello. Boone? You awake?"

_The voice of his sister, Shannon penetrated the daydream._

"Umm. Yeah…"

_He rubbed his eyes._

"My eyes are open aren't they?"

_He tried his best to focus. He didn't want Shannon to think that something was wrong. No need to make her worried. He would keep this to himself. _

"Where…" _Boone began to clear his voice. _

"Just outside Los Angeles" _Shannon smiled. _

Damn! Even though they weren't related by blood she had the ability to read his mind like she was his freaking twin or something!

With his eyes still focused on what was passing by his window, he tried to breath in the atmosphere of all things L.A. but all he could think about was her. **Claire. **Her name bounced back and forth in his brain. **Claire.** If he closed his eyes he could almost see her sitting on the beach, writing in her diary. He sadly wondered if she had ever written anything about him in there.

He guessed that she hadn't. Not out of self-pity or anything. He was just realistic. Why would she had written anything about him when he had barely spoken a word to her the on the Island? He'd never had the opportunity.

There it was again… The thought... "What if"? What if he had just taken the time? Then he wouldn't be feeling so helpless right now. He hated that feeling. He had felt it when they had been stranded on the Island after the plane crashed. He knew that he wasn't the "boy scout" type, he couldn't hunt like Locke. He wasn't a doctor like Jack and he wasn't as smart as Sawyer. He and his sister had both been useless. They weren't accustomed solving things without their mobile phones. He had even tried that on the Island. To use his phone. To no use.

"Boone. Could you please STOP being so boring! This whole "I'm sad" - look is killing me!"

_Shannon boxed his shoulder_

"Come on! We're home. America. Fast food! Baseball. Cable TV."

_Shannon's face lighted up with a smile._

"I thought you didn't like fast food. Always said that it was to much calories in it"

_Boone gave her a look that she was very much used to. She didn't buy it and she never had. Although his "holier than thou" attitude sometimes made her cry, this time she wouldn't let him win. She gave him a "whatever" look and said:_

"I would kill for a cheeseburger right now"

She gave it a thought.

"I could eat a good damn horse" she added.

Boone understood. The food selection on the Island hadn't had the widest range to choose from. If they were lucky, Locke would have hunted a boar (with or without his help) or Jin had caught some fish. If they weren't lucky they had to eat fruit. He hadn't allowed himself to fantasize about food on the island but now when he was in the real world again he could feel the craving for a pizza…or two.

"You know what Shannon? I think you're right"

_He gave her one of his smiles._

"I'm sorry if I haven't been the best company"

_Her face told him that he hadn't._

"I'll make it up to you tomorrow. Dinner at 8, my place?"

_Shannon nodded._

"Sounds good"

_She leaned towards him and gave him a quick hug. For a second he closed his eyes and thought of someone else…_

Then he snapped out of it.

The cab stopped next to his apartment building. Shannon waved goodbye and the cab continued to drive to the friend she would stay with until she figured out what to do next. Boone guessed that Shannon would have a fun night out with her friends, partying and making up for lost time. Boone would have done the same if somehow he wasn't changed. The Island had changed his perspective on things in life. He knew that he couldn't continue this "care-free" lifestyle.

_Knowing that, he took the key out of his jeans and turned the key to his apartment door. _


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Vincent," Boone whispered. He could see someone or _something _moving in the jungle. His heart was pounding. Was it Vincent, Walt's dog? He doubted it. Boone tried to distinguish what was moving, but he couldn't. Suddenly he could hear the sound of panting. A woman.

Claire?

He could see her now. Her hair was disheveled, her face muddy but still…she made his heart skip a beat.

Then he noticed her expression. She was terrified.

_Boone twisted and turned in his sleep. His body was trying to fight away the nightmare, but it continued. Several memories from the Island flew by in his sub consciousness. He could hear himself speaking with Locke. Asking him questions about Claire._

"But where'd she come from?"

"The guy _pretends_ to be one of us, he drags her into the jungle for almost two weeks. _She doesn't remember him?_"

Boone had a thousand questions.

"Apparently," Locke answered, like he didn't care about Claire. Boone wanted to hit him, shake him! He cared. They had to find the bastard who had done this to her! They had to find Ethan.

The sound of Claire's scream when she didn't remember anyone of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 somehow forced him to surface from the dream. He was glad that the nightmare was over; it wasn't like he wanted to get back into it.

Boone slowly opened his eyes. His heart was pounding so fast that he thought that it would pop out of his chest any second now. After a while his eyes began to get used to the darkness in the room and after a couple of seconds more he could see the outlines of the furniture in the room. He tried to calm himself down.

Boone got out of his bed, there was no use to try to get back to sleep now. He knew for a fact that when he had a nightmare it always returned. When he was a little boy he used to have nightmares after his nanny Theresa fell down the stairs and every single night he had heard himself saying "Teresa falls up the stairs, Teresa falls down the stairs." It still scared the crap out of him.

He had thought that the first night in a comfy bed for the first time in weeks would be relaxing.

"Guess I was wrong," Boone mumbled. He went in to the living room and sat down in his brown leather sofa. He was thankful for his wonderful apartment and he knew that his job at his mother's- The Martha Stewart of all things wedding - company was the reason why he could afford this place and the place in New York. The apartment looked a little bit like no one was living there though, but that was no surprise. He hadn't been in the apartment even before the plane crashed. He had been to busy coming to Shannon's rescue in Sydney.

_Sydney. _Boone wondered if Claire was there now. Or had she gone to L.A. like she had planned to do before the plane crashed?

Boone was beginning to fall asleep again when he heard a buzzing sound. He looked at his watch. 1:00 AM. Who would call his intercom now? A little bit irritated he pushed the call button.

"Yeah!"

Boone could hear the crackling that the intercom caused but nothing else.

"Shannon. Is it you? Are you drunk again?" Boone remembered Shannon showing up at his place in N.Y. drunk a couple of times and he was pretty sure that she had been drinking cosmos tonight.

"Boone?" _That wasn't Shannon's voice._

"Yes. Who are you?" Boone asked the unknown yet strangely familiar voice.

"Claire" _Boone was stunned. Did the girl say that she was Claire?_

_I seriously must go to a shrink tomorrow_. Boone thought. _I'm going crazy._

"I don't know if you remember me." Claire's voice brought him back to the reality.

"I was on flight 815, when it..." her voice faded away.

It must be too painful for her to talk about, Boone thought. After all she had been through hell on that Island. Being kidnapped and all.

"Of course I remember you," Boone said. " "The pregnant girl, right?" _Why did he say that?_

"Umm... Yes." her voice sounded nervous.

They were both silent. Neither of them knew what to say. Then she finally took the initiative.

"I'm not _drunk_" The joke broke the uncomfortable silence.

Boone laughed.

"You wanna come up? It's quite chilly for being L.A." _In his mind he added:"and there are a lot of creeps out there" _

"Okay, thanks"

Boone pressed the button to unlock the street door. In a couple of seconds Claire would be in his apartment. Boone hadn't been this nervous since he was a little kid... _Why did she have this impact on him?_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Claire walked up the stairs towards Boone's apartment. Her back was aching and she was exhausted. Probably looked like hell too. Being pregnant wasn't a walk in the park. That was even an _understatement_... The first couple of months she had to deal with morning sickness and being tired constantly and then when that was over she was stranded on an Island! The last couple of months in Claire's life had been a roller coaster, and not one of those funny ones.

Over and over again she cursed the elevator for having gone all cactus, or in American - not working. At the same time she was awestruck, only by walking up the stairs she could tell that this was a _nice_ apartment building. The stairs was top modern and there were doors of pinewood on every floor! On top of that Claire was pretty sure that she had seen Tom Cruise on her way too Boone.

Boone. She was chocked by the effect the name had on her. She had to remind herself that this was the right decision to make; she had no one else to turn to. Claire regretted that she had sold her and her ex-boyfriend – Thomas's – apartment when he had left her. But she didn't have any other option really; the place had been full of memories. Bad ones. She didn't want to live with her friends in Sydney either, she felt like they all blamed her for wanting to give away her baby. _She didn't want to do that anymore though_. Claire put her hand over her stomach, like she was trying to protect her baby from all the bad things in the world. She knew that she couldn't. But she would for the love of God, do her best.

Claire thought through all her other options. Her parents were out of question so she had no other option than to ask a stranger for help. Boone had seemed like the right option then…

Kate was in prison with Sawyer by her side and she couldn't stand Jack watching over her like a hawk all the time, constantly asking her if she was okay.

_Charlie. _

She could always go to Charlie. Her only _real_ friend on the Island. There was one reason why she didn't do that though, a possibility. The possibility that he could begin with drugs again. She couldn't risk that, not when she was expecting her baby to come in a couple of weeks. She loved the baby to much than to put it in any kind of danger.

No, Boone was the right decision. She knew nothing specific about him but she knew that he had done all in his power to provide help on the Island. He had hunted for food with Locke and he had even tried to rescue that woman that drowned, she didn't think that he was useless like most of the others seemed to. Claire could still remember waking up and seeing those blue eyes for the first time. She had nearly drowned in them that time, felt a strange attraction to the man they belonged to, she hadn't felt that way in a long time. She wondered if she had _ever_ felt that way before. All Boone had done was to give her some water when she was weak, but somehow she had felt like he was protecting her. Suddenly Claire felt a nervous feeling sweeping through her.

"Come on Claire. It's not like you are going out with the bloke. You're just spending the night there" she said quietly to herself.

Was she being watched? Claire could feels goose bumps bursting out on her arms. Then she shocked her head, trying to get rid of the feeling. She began to walk faster; suddenly she was in a hurry to get to Boone.

When Boone let Claire in she had a haunted expression over her face. He couldn't avoid the sense of dread washing over him and once again he felt useless. There was nothing he wanted more then to wrap his arms around her, stroke her head gently and to whisper to her that everything would be okay. That she was safe here – with him. There were so many reasons why he shouldn't and he knew that, the main reason was that he didn't know her. Besides, he didn't even know if she was married. After all she was pregnant, he couldn't avoid to see that when she now stood in front of him. Boone resisted the urge to do all the things he wanted to and instead he took to initiative to begin a conversation.

"Claire," he said gently, watching her closely. "Is something wrong?" Claire looked at the floor, not wanting to look into his eyes just yet.

"Not really," she paused, searching for words to explain with. "I just…felt like I was being watched when I was on my way over here", she took her eyes off the floor and looked at him, shyly. "That must sound silly," she smiled slightly.

_How beautiful she is, Boone thought._

"I told you that there are creeps out there" Boone replied, not knowing what else to say to her. Claire was surprised. When had he said that? But she decided to let him think that he had. Not knowing that he had made a mistake Boone continued.

"Besides, in here you can feel safe" he added, a bit awkwardly. Both stood quietly for a couple of seconds, watching each other carefully.

Boone knew deep inside that there was no way that he would let her walk out of his door, into the darkness of the night, at least not when it made her that afraid. She had been through a lot more than he had been on the Island. The last thing she needed was to feel afraid again. Even though he didn't want to ask why she was standing in _his_ apartment in the middle of the night (he was just happy that she was,) he knew that he had too. But how could he ask that, without sounding rude?

"So…how come that you rang on my door?" he said gently. Claire tried to look into his eyes without blushing.

"I had no one else to turn to," she said, truthfully. Boone noticed that her eyes was filling up with tears, he also saw that she was trying to fight them away. He knew that this was too painful for her. He had to do something.

"Claire," he said with a voice full of care. "Do you need a place to stay?" She looked thankfully at him; he had taken the step that she couldn't take. She hated to ask people for favours. Claire nodded.

"If that's okay with you," she asked shyly. "I know that you don't know much about me"

"That's true." Boone smiled "Guess we will get to know each other then"

Claire looked at him, waiting for confirmation.

"Stay as long as you want to" he said, trying not to sound to excited about her living with him.

"Thanks," Claire blushed a little when she added

"I look forward to get to know you Boone." He looked at her, again thinking how beautiful she was. He had never seen her blush before and he wondered if he was somehow causing it.

"Me too," Boone reached out his hand and she took it, then they shacked hands.

The following hours they both did their best to make up for lost time and opportunities. They told each other about their lives before the crash and other trivial things that they thought that they should know if they were going to live together. Boone told Claire about his time as a lifeguard and she teased him by saying that he couldn't have been a good one, considering that he nearly drowned the last time he was swimming. He shot her a betrayed look and she laughed at his pathetic try to look offended.

Claire told him about her fascination for horoscopes, but she avoided getting into the deep subjects. They still didn't know each other that well and despite their good looks they were both shy, being alone with a next to complete stranger didn't exactly make them feel more relaxed.

Even though it was late at night, more than 2:00 AM, neither of them wanted to sleep. Boone was still afraid that his nightmare would return, the fact that Claire was there with him now didn't calm him, the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of all things that had happened to her on the Island. Claire shared his fear. Ever since she had been kidnapped by Ethan she had trouble sleeping so both of them somehow had a silent agreement to stay awake.

"What do you wanna do?" Boone asked, giving her a smile that told her that he was up for almost anything.

"I don't know" _Boone loved her Australian accent_.

"But I'm starving!" A side effect of being pregnant, Claire thought.

"I feel like eating something really fatty," she laughed.

"Let's go then." Boone got her coat and put it over her shoulders. This was the first time they had body contact since their hand shake earlier. They were both taken a back of the effect such a little touch had on them.

"After you," Boone said, giving her back a friendly push.

"Not those stairs again," Claire sighed.

Then they walked out into the night, together. Hopeful to find a "Milk bar" - like and Australian like Claire would call it – that was opened that late at night._ Neither of them knowing what to expect or what to come._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Most of the night passed by without any problems or embarrassing situations, both Boone and Claire was happy to notice that they had grown out of the "stranger phase" and that they were becoming friends. They both realised that when you are all alone with another person for a couple of hours you form a special bond. A bond that could usually take several months to establish during normal circumstances.

About 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning they finally fell into a nightmare less sleep on the sofa, Claire a little bit earlier than Boone. They both woke up simultaneously by a knock on the door.

Boone sighed, 4 hours of sleep wasn't nearly enough for him.

Then he looked down and saw Claire lying in his lap, with her eyes closed but clearly awake. Boone smiled for himself, happy to notice that he hadn't been dreaming that Claire had come to him.

"Hey," Boone said gently.

"Good morning." Claire got out of his lap, to his disappointment. Not knowing what to say more they smiled at each other. Her smile soon grew into laughter.

"What?" Boone asked suspiciously.

"Your hair," Claire still laughed, her cheeks glowing out of joy. Boone ran his fingers through his hair, feeling a warmth creeping up his cheeks. Then he changed his mind and ruffled his hair as much as possible, making a funny face.

"Very funny," she said, putting his hair back in place, stroking it gently. She didn't realise what she had done until it was too late.

"Perhaps you should open the door?" she said embarrassed, trying to get some space between them. Boone got up from the sofa and walked towards the door, confused by her behaviour.

-------------------------------

"Here he is: Boone Carlyle. Survivor of flight 815" Boone was taken by surprise. On his floor there were several reporters and paparazzo's – all screaming his name, trying to get him to comment on their question or to get a juicy picture.

"Did you know that Kate Austen is in prison?"

"Is it true that you found a hatch in the jungle?" another reporter asked.

"Is Claire Littleton your girlfriend?"

No other question had been that _shocking_. He didn't understand. No one besides him and Claire knew that she was living with him, right?

"Not that I know of," he finally stammered out. Boone gave the reporters a lame reason for closing the door, and with thousand questions running through his head, he went back into the living room. She wasn't there.

"Claire!" he shouted, trying to hide the betrayal he felt. He couldn't think of any reason why the reporters have gotten that idea other than that she had something to do with it!

Claire came out from the bathroom; she only needed to take one look at him to see that something was wrong. The kindness that was usually showing in his eyes was replaced by coldness. What could have caused this change in him? She stood right in front of him, waiting for him to tell her what was wrong but he didn't.

_He was afraid that his voice would betray him, showing how hurt he was._

"Okay. I surrender," Claire said, raising her hands up in the air as a gesture of what she had just said. She smiled, in hope that his bad mood would go away.

"Do you think that this is _funny_?" now he sounded really angry.

"What? I don't even know why you are acting this way!" her smile was long gone. He crossed his arms.

"You have changed your mood in a couple of minutes, like you were Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" now she was growing angry herself. When he didn't answer, Claire continued:

"You at least owe me an explanation why" she said, staring at him.

"I owe you an explanation?" he asked bitterly. "How ironic isn't that" Boone walked around in the room, he didn't want to face her. Her sad face made him feel guilty for coming on so strong.

"Is it because of the money?" he faked a laugh.

"You wanted the publicity and figured out that I was the best option?" his voice broke but he forced himself to continue. He needed a reason.

"I thought that we were friends" he said, now sounding hurt and not angry.

"We are," Claire said, trying to move closer to him but he backed away.

Boone shocked his head. "No we're not and we never were," he stammered.

He walked towards his coat. "You used me" he said with a dangerous edge. He took out a couple of dollar bills from his wallet and moved towards her.

"You want money?" he said, sounding calmer than he should. Claire looked away, afraid of how he was acting.

"Here you go!" he throwed the bunch of money at her and they fell to the floor like leafs in the fall.

"I don't want your money, Boone" Claire turned around, her back facing him. She looked through the window, it was raining. If she wasn't hurt and offended by his harsh words she would probably had laughed because it so rarely rained in Los Angeles, it was like the weather was a mirroring her state of mind.

"I don't even know what you are talking about," her voice was low.

"I haven't used you" a tear fell down her cheek but she quickly wiped it away, thankful that he couldn't see her face.

Boone didn't look at her when she turned around to face him.

"I wish that I could believe that," he mumbled, now looking at her as he was struggling to see if she was telling the truth.

"If you can't" she paused "then maybe I should move"

Inside her heart was breaking.

"Maybe you should"

Claire looked at him, he wasn't angry anymore and when she looked into his eyes she could tell that he was sorry. Claire didn't know why he had said all those things or whom who had put them in his head in the first place. But all she needed to know was that he believed that she was using him for his money, and the fact that he thought that she could to that to _him_ was heartbreaking.

They had never been anything other than friends but she had somehow wished for something more.

She took her bags and walked slowly towards the door, without looking at him. She waited for him to say something but he didn't.

He stood like frozen, not looking as she moved further and further away from him. Suddenly he heard a thud.

Boone looked closely at her, noticing that she was holding one hand over her stomach and the other one in a tight fist, her bags where dropped on the floor.

"Boone," Claire said, her voice sounding tortured.

Instantly Boone knew what was happening, she was having a contraction. He didn't waste a second and was quickly by her side.

"Claire," he pronounced her name with affection, not letting their previous fight stop him from protecting her.

"I want you to lie down," he took her hand and led her towards his bedroom. She was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide open. He helped her to lie down and put a blanket over her.

"Just try to breathe calmly" he said, glancing at his watch to time the contractions.

"How far gone are you?" _Why didn't he know that? _He looked at her, trying to get her attention through the fear.

"Why does that even matter? I'm having the bloody baby right now!" she said annoyed, but still afraid.

"Claire" he said seriously "I need to know"

"3 weeks, okay"

"Okay" Boone stroked her hair "Then I'm sure that this is just a false labour" he said, relieved.

"Just calm down and I will get you a glass of water" he went into a kitchen.

"Drink this"

Claire who trusted him that the pain would soon be over, drank the glass of water until its very last drop. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, waiting to see if the pain would subside and if they needed to call for an ambulance. Boone held her hand, stroking it gently.

"They've stopped" Claire finally announced, her whole essence seemed finally at peace.

Boone looked at her, intently, trying to capture the moment so that he would always remember her blonde curls and baby blue eyes. He was surprised how beautiful she looked when she was at peace, and yet somehow she had a vulnerability to her which made her even more attractive in his eyes.

He never wanted her to leave his life but he wasn't sure if she was going to stay with him after his rage. True, he had felt betrayed and some part of him still did but there was no way that he would risk her safety for his pride. She had no one else to turn to, she had said so herself and her baby could be coming pretty soon. The next time she was having contractions it might as well be real ones.

"I'm sorry Claire", he said with a low voice, looking into her eyes so that she could see that he meant it.

"I know," she didn't need to say more; their eyes did all the talking. Neither of them would go anywhere.


	5. Chapter 4, part 1

**Chapter 4, part 1**

After their fight earlier there was a tension between them and they both did their best to avoid each other. At this point, their "living arrangement" was for practical reasons only.

Boone spent his time buying food and other essential things they might need, meanwhile Claire, despite having to walk down the stairs, decided to go for a walk around the neighbourhood. She had called Jack and he had said that it wasn't anything serious and that she could go on as usual, to her relief.

When Boone returned to the apartment, Claire flew up from the sofa.

"Hey! Look at this!" Claire showed him a gossip magazine with their picture on it. They were both on it, together. He realised that the picture was from last night.

"I found this while I was walking and you know what?"

Boone shook his head.

"Now I know what you were talking about earlier," she paused. "That whole _publicity_ crap," she looked right at him, showing no sign of hurt or embarrassment. He was surprised that she could talk about their fight like it had happen ages ago, that it was in the _past_.

"I said…" Boone was stopped by Claire.

"Just listen to me, okay?" she sounded determined.

"I found a quote in here and now I know why you thought all those things about me" He let her continue:

"You remember me telling you that I felt like I was being followed yesterday?"

"Yeah" Boone wondered where this was going.

"I was, I guess… Because I was talking for myself and what I said is quoted in here. Someone must have wanted to sell a story," She looked away "It wasn't me"

The truth sank into him and he felt really embarrassed for even thinking all those things about her. What the hell had flown into him?

"I want you to listen to me now, Claire" He _needed_ to say this.

"You have to know that I'm sorry for questioning you. I should never have doubted our friendship," he said truthfully.

"Forgive me?" he asked, nervously, waiting for her to say something.

"You are forgiven," she said almost instantly (to his relief), not even giving it a second thought.

"So what was the quote?" Boone asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing," she was getting embarrassed.

"Let me see," he teased, moving close to her to try to steal the magazine. She held it tight, not wanting him to have it but Boone knew some tricks and he tickled her until she burst into laughter.

"Stop it" she giggled "It tickles!"

Somehow she let her guard down and he was able to grab the magazine from her. He read the page, looking at her every now and then. She was staring at the floor, wishing that she could vanish through it.

"You said this?" he asked, tenderly. Touched by what was written there.

"They quoted me wrong" she said, breaking the moment.

He decided to change subject.

"Hey. I know what we can do for the rest of the day" he said, sounding as excited as a kid on Christmas Day.

"What?" Claire said, a flicker of curiosity passing over her face.

"We are going shopping" he paused. "We need to buy some things for the _baby_"

Boone was surprised by what he had just said. Somehow he had thought that it would be a couple of years more until he would say that sentence and that it would be his baby, not another mans.

"What!" Claire said, repeating the same word as before but now she looked at him like he was crazy.

"Don't you give me that look, missy" he said mockingly. He went on:

"Your baby is going to arrive _sooner_ than you _think_" Boone emphasized the words.

"You have to be prepared"

Claire looked away.

"Okay. I guess you're right" she said, meeting his eyes again.

"Let's go then" he said, obviously proud of himself.

She rolled her eyes, sometimes he behaved like he was a little boy, but she didn't complain – it was cute as hell.

On their way out she said:

"Shopping can't take up the rest of the day." She wondered what else he had in mind.

"What are we going to do later?"

"Cook" he said, without giving her anymore details. Claire smiled, she loved how unpredictable he was.

"Look at this one" Boone said, shoving her a teddy bear, he even made it dance by moving it from left and right over and over again.

"It's kinda cute" she admitted.

"And it's _green_!" When Claire didn't respond he went on:

"_Green _as in _neutral, _since we don't know the sex of the baby"

"I'm fairly sure it's a boy" she told himconfidentially.

"Oh" Boone put the green teddy back on the shelf.

"Then I know exactly what you need" he said, putting a blue one in the baby carriage they had picked out together, walking to another section. Claire followed him.

"How come you know so much about baby stuff?" she asked, thinking about him knowing about false labours and what to buy.

Laughing, he replied:

"I have this cousin, Stephanie, who was talking _a lot_ about _everything_ when she was pregnant" Boones face lighted up as he walked down memory lane.

"Used to think that she was the worst drag ever"

"So why going through it twice?" she asked, pointing at her stomach.

He gave it a thought.

"Because I think that _you're_ worth it," he said, softly.

Claire was surprised. She looked around at the shelves trying to hide the fact that she was unnerved by his statement.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"You _need _one of these" Boone put a baseball outfit for baby boys in the baby carriage, which worked prefect as a basket, and Claire grabbed a couple of packages with diapers and they went on with the shopping.

For the next 1 and a half hour they found themselves really enjoying each others company. Claire really liked the fact that Boone knew exactly what to buy and he made her feel so comfortable that she could just be herself.

"Do you think I can pull this off?" Claire joked, holding up a dress for babies in front of her . Boone pretended to consider it.

"No offence, sweetie, but I think you need to lose a couple of tons first" he said, trying to look serious but it only took a couple of seconds before they were both laughing and so it continued all the way up to the cashier who seemed less amused by their behaviour.

"Guess that you are one of those couples that are really looking forward to having a baby", she said, sounding bored, and scanned another item.

Boone and Claire both felt embarrassed.

"Oh, he isn't the daddy," Claire stammered.

"We haven't even" she blushed.

Boone took over. "We aren't involved. Just friends" he said, sounding casual, but looking uncomfortable.

"That's 600 dollars," the cashier, who according to her nametag was named Amanda, said.

Boone gave her the money.

"Either we can argue about it here _or_ you just let me pay," he sounded determined and unwilling to cause a scene, Claire nodded.

On their way home, Boone decided to take Claire to Venice Beach, after all it was her first time in L.A. and it was quite close to home.

They sat down and looked as they waves rolled in to the shore, both happy that the bad weather had only lasted a short while; the sand was dry at most places.

"Can't say I've missed this" Claire said, putting a piece of hair behind her ear.

"The beach, after being on the Island, I mean"

"Same here," he said, with a trace of smile.

"But I do miss some people…" she said, looking a bit sad.

"Yeah? Who?" He asked.

"Well not Jack that much since I talked with him earlier today, but Kate and Sun" she paused "and Charlie"

Boone somehow felt like he had been stabbed. He couldn't pin point why but then it hit him. **_Charlie_**. _Of course_ she missed _him_. He was jealous, for the first time in his life, he was really jealous.

Claire looked at him, he seemed hurt somehow. Her heart skipped a beat, was it possible that he had feelings for her? She made a mental note, not to mention Charlie again.

"Give me your hands" she said, eager to get back to having fun again.

"Why?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Just give me them!" she tried not to laugh.

Boone gave into her wish, reaching out both hands, waiting to see what would happen next.

"This game I used to play with my friends" she said, putting her hands under his.

"So how" his voice faded away, interrupted by a slap on his hands. Boone looked at her, surprised.

"You were supposed to move them" she said, sounding proud with a smile dancing on her lips.

"How was I supposed to know that?" he asked, whining, to make sure that his point came across. He was clearly not upset about her "cheating", instead he just pretend to play hurt as usual.

"You're just showing off" he laughed "My turn"

"Sure"

They did another turn, this time Boone won.

"Got ya!" he said, sticking out his tongue, teasing her.

Claire raised her eyebrows, challenging "Best of three. Starting now?" she said, daring him.

"Are you up for the challenge?" What had begun as a game had now grown into a competition.

"Depends, he said. What's in it for me?" He smiled.

"The loser has to do the dishes tonight" she said, knowing that he would be up for that.

Claire won the first one, managing to slap Boone's hands but when it was his turn to slap hers, she was so mesmerized by the expression on his face that she completely forgot to move her hands.

"Ha!" he said.

"I won", he said and continued with a satisfied grin.

She pushed him so that he fell backwards.

"Just rub it in" she said, trying to sound pissed but her eyes showed amusement.

He admired her for having a playful side and to his surprise he'd enjoyed spending time with her more than he had thought he would.

Claire reached out her hand to him to show that he wanted to help him up.

"Don't you even try to drag me down" she said, sounding dead serious.

"I'm a big _lump_," once again she pointed at her stomach to make her point.

"Forgot that" he admitted and she pulled him up.

Boone was serious; sometime during the time they had spent together he had begun to see her as more than pregnant. He almost laughed at the paradox; it was almost ridiculous that he had begun to see her as more than pregnant when the last hours had more or less revolved around the baby.

Claire was touched by his statement. The last couple of months she hadn't been just Claire, she had been _the _pregnant_ girl. _She was sick and tired of it and the fact that _he_ could see beyond her pregnant exterior moved her in so many ways.

"We should go back," Boone said, standing up.

Claire nodded, standing up as well.

"What are we gonna cook?" she asked, curiously.

"Well, we're having my sister over so it better be good" he said, sarcastically, when he mentioned Shannon.

Smiling, Claire said:

"I warn you. My cooking skills are _terrible" _Boone looked at her, seeing that she really meant it.

Knowing that he could tease her, he replied.

"Guess that you have to do the salad then"

"Don't want you to burn down the house" he continued.

"You just love to make fun of me don't you?" Claire asked, her voice sounding way more hurt than she appeared to be.

"Well this could be fun" Boone said, pushing the baby carriage -with all the bought things in it forward.

**---------------------**

"Do I smell something burned?" Boone shouted on his way from the bathroom to the kitchen.

"Let's just say that if you want to see your sister dead, then just give her this" Claire said, as he entered the room, showing him the burned fish.

Boone laughed at her disappointed expression.

"Hey. I do this", he said, starting over with the fish.

"Why don't you do the Pêche Melba? The peaches and raspberries are in the refrigerator"

"The…what?" Claire gave him a confused look.

"Pêche Melba," he repeated. "It's a French dessert and it's delicious"

"Can't burn it either," he said, humouring her.

"Should take you there, when the baby has come" he said, without really knowing _what he was saying. _

"To France?" she asked, hesitantly.

"That was what I meant" he replied in a slow drawl.

"You want _me_ to come with you to _France_?" she repeated, not believing what she had heard.

He didn't reply, already regretting that he had mentioned the future. He flipped the fish instead, concentrating on the food and having a reason not to look at her.

"Boone. You know that this _thing_ is temporary right?" she said with a low voice.

She went on.

"Eventually I have to move" she shifted until she stood right next to him. She didn't stop looking at him until he met her gaze.

"Who knows about the future" she said, quietly, not wanting to say it.

"Yeah" he said through gritted teeth.

She shot him a look full of sadness, causing his anger to subside, making him feel a million things at once.

"Claire," he said, touching her chin. He looked her deep into her eyes, not knowing how many feelings he woke up inside of her by just one look. She felt like she could dive into his eyes and happily drown.

Claire wetted her lips, her eyes unavoidably moving from his eyes downwards his lips. She could feel his breath on her skin, causing a chill down her spine. They were only inches from each other and the space got even smaller when Boone leaned in to kiss her.

Claire backed away.

"Boone we can't" Her voice held strength but her lips trembled and he realized that she was trying hard to do the right thing.

"I need more time" She didn't sound so strong anymore.

He looked into her tearful eyes. He wanted her more than anything else but she was right. It was too soon.

"I understand" he said, trying not to sound disappointed.

He turned back to the frying pan, continuing with the fish. She walked to her side of the kitchen, a tear falling down her cheek. Once again she was able to keep him from seeing it.

"Don't put on to much cream" Boone said, casually and they continued to prepare the dinner in silence…


	6. Chapter 4, part 2

**Chapter 4, part 2**

Both Boone and Claire were relieved when Shannon arrived, a couple of minutes too late. The last hour had been almost unbearable and they hadn't spoken a word to each other and they had also carefully avoided to get too close. It was like they were back in time, like those hours of fun hadn't happen and that it was still morning.

When Shannon knocked on the door (Boone had already let her through), they almost ran toward it.

"Hi!" Shannon said, sounding happy to meet her brother.

Then she saw Claire.

"Claire?" She sounded more than surprised. Her expression showing that she was shocked.

"Hi Shannon," Claire said, smiling wryly.

"What are you doing here?" Shannon asked, still a little shocked.

"She needed a place to stay," Boone replied dryly.

He was so not in the mood for this. He wanted to go to bed, sleep and forget that this day had ever happened. But a part of him didn't want to forget it. No matter how bad things had gone the last hour, he had had a great time until then. There was something about him and Claire together, when they had fun they really had fun and when they argued, they argued. 

Shannon glanced at Boone and Claire, feeling the tension between them.

This could be fun, she thought.

Clearly something had happened, making both of them unnerved.

"So what's for dinner?" She said, moving towards the kitchen.

"Fish." Boone followed his sister.

"You've done this together?"

Shannon was impressed. On Boones kitchen table there was salmon, cooked potatoes and a sauce that smelled delicious.

"Umm... Yeah," Boone said, sharing a secretive smile with Claire.

Claire couldn't help but laugh.

"He's lying!"

Claire shared a look with Boone. Both of them were beginning to let their guards down.

"The only thing I did was to slow him down!" Claire's eyes were now sparkling with joy.

"Bad cook?" Shannon asked.

Like she cared! What were Claire's intentions for coming here? Couldn't she have gone to that weird Charlie? Didn't they have a thing for each other on the Island?

Damn it! Why did she have to think about the Island? The only thing she had thought about since she had gotten home was Sayid. She even missed him and she never missed anybody.

Claire nodded.

"The worst."

Her voice brought Shannon back to reality again.

To their surprised, all three of them enjoyed the dinner. They talked, teased and laughed for more than an hour. They discussed the other islanders most, which was fun cause they never gotten the opportunity to do that with anybody before.

They all agreed that Jack has been the most helpful one. Boone adding that all women had soft spots for doctors.

Shannon admitted that she had found Charlie being weird. When Claire protested, Shannon said that it must be a non- American thing. Shannon was certain that everyone who said "Bloody Hell" and "Bullocks" must be crazy.

So it went on and no matter who they talked about Shannon managed to comment on something. At first Claire was surprised by this but then she realised that that was just Shannon's way and that she didn't mean any harm with it. 

When they had finished the dessert (which was unexpectedly good), Shannon asked Boone if she could talk with him in private so they went into the bedroom Boone used, leaving Claire to take care of the dishes.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shannon asked dryly.

Boone looked at her. She didn't look happy.

"What are you talking about?" Boone replied dubiously.

She narrowed her eyes and frowned her pretty forehead.

"Claire! Why do you let her stay here?"

"Because I want her too," Boone said, calmly.

He went on.

"Besides, she needs my help."  
Shannon snorted, obviously not happy by his answer. 

"Are you trying to act all hero-y again?" She laughed scornfully.

"No. I'm just helping someone I care about," Boone exhaled, trying to ignore her.

"Do you care about her like you care about me?" she asked, seductively, moving closer.

"Stop it," he said, unnerved.

But Shannon didn't. Slowly she put her lips over his, kissing him softly. Teasing him.

Of course this was the moment Claire entered the room.

"Where are the plates supposed to be?" she asked, her voice fading away on the last words when she saw what they were doing.

Boone pushed away Shannon. If he had felt something about Shannon a couple of minutes ago the feelings were long gone now. He was over her. Sick and tired of her using him to get what she needed at the time. If she had feelings for him, she only choose to show them when she could get something out of it.

Boone looked at Claire, unwilling to let her go out of his sight. He was truly embarrassed by what had happened.

"Claire" he said her name no louder than a whisper.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her face getting paler. She turned around quickly and walked out of the door: chocked.

"I suggest you go now, Shannon," Boone said fiercely, going after Claire.

"Claire," he shouted desperately.

"Out here," her voice came from the balcony.

He walked out to find her sitting in his chair, her arms wrapped around her. She had a distant look on her face.

Boone wondered why she always reacted so emotionally. Perhaps it was a pregnant thing or did she feel as much for him like he did for her?

She stood up, almost in slow motion.

He grabbed her arm, gently.

"Hey. You wanna talk about it?" He spoke haltingly.

He could see her hesitating, searching for words.   
"You kissed your sister!" She said incredulously, like she didn't believe what she had seen.

She avoided looking at him, sickened by his action.

"Shannon is my step-sisterp." He begun, it was important to him for her to knowing this.

"I've had this crush on her since I was twelve." He spoke tightly, to make sure that she'd listen.

He went on.

"I don't feel anything for her anymore. She kissed me."

Claire met his gaze, a flicker of relief passing over her face. She trusted him.

"I believe you," she said, truthfully.

"You do?" he asked, looking down at the floor, his voice filled with emotion.

Their eyes met again and the silence spoke volumes.

Even though Claire still was chocked by the events earlier, she didn't want to say goodnight to Boone. She wanted him to kiss her, to tell her that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

But he didn't.

"I think I should get some sleep," she said, fighting the urge to kiss him.

Boone nodded.

"Good night, Claire" he said, softly.

"Good night."

She walked away, using all her strength to resist going back to him.

Turn around, Boone thought when Claire disappeared out of his sight.

Please, turn around.

He needed her to make the first move. If he did it, he would betray her trust, not accepting her plead to take it slow.

All day they had played this game with each other and somehow it had made him wanting her more.

Boone stood like frozen when he heard the sounds of footsteps and there she was, Claire, with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a pyjama with ducks on.

Boone held his breath; she was more beautiful than ever before. Her pyjama fell gently on her body, showing her pregnant – but beautiful – figure. Her face was newly washed and showed her natural beauty. 

She was breathtaking.

"Forgot something?" He asked with a low voice. A lover's voice.

Claire reached our and touched her fingertips to his lips.

"A kiss?" she whispered.

Moving closer so that her lips were only a fingers width from his.

His heart pounded.

"If that's okay with you?" She asked, tenderly.

"Oh yeah" He said.

His mouth closed over hers, his lips soft and careful. He kissed the centre of her mouth first, gently. Slowly he grew more and more eager.

One of her hands stroked his arm so gently that it made him burst into goose bumps.

She gave into the kiss, opening her mouth, inviting him.

She gave him one last, deep kiss, and then moved away.

"Sweet dreams," She smiled seductively but her voice didn't sound normal.

What was wrong?

His eyes snapped open, and Claire disappeared. He was not outside anymore; instead he was lying on his back, his legs tangled in a blanket.

Boone cursed, sitting upright, realising that he had been dreaming it all. She hadn't come to him. She hadn't kissed him.


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Boone walked into the kitchen the next morning he found that Claire already was up. She was sitting by the kitchen table, her head in her hands, reading a newspaper. When he moved closer he saw that she was carefully making circles in it. His eyes rounded, afraid of what she might be doing.

Claire lifted her head, seeing him.

"Morning." Her voice sounded tired.

"Hey," Boone replied, using his favorite word.

She gave him a weak smile, not able to give him anything more.

"How are you feeling?"

He was growing worried. She didn't look so good, well she looked good but also worn out.

"I'm fine" She said, unconvincingly.

When she saw that he didn't buy it, she added ,"Didn't sleep well."

Claire had been up most of the night, trying to come to a decision if she should stay with him or not.

"Me neither." He admitted.

"Dreamt."

Boone smiled when he thought about the dream he had last night.

Claire raised her eyebrows. There was something about the way he said it that made her interested.

"Really? About what?"

He blushed a little.

"A girl," he answered, shyly.

Claire searched his face, trying to see if it was her he meant but she couldn't tell. For the millionth time since she had got there she cursed herself for thinking about him in a romantic way. She had never fallen for anyone this fast. She was careful by nature, wanting to know where things stood before she got involved but there was something about Boone that made her heart beat faster, something that made her feel safe (even when they argued) and she had a feeling that this was how it was meant to be, that destiny had brought them together. Twice.

She couldn't let anything happen between them though, not now, with a baby coming. She didn't want him to have to worry about two persons. She didn't want to screw up his life.

What Claire didn't know was that he would do anything for her. Boone knew that he had fallen head over heels for her. He silently wondered when he had fallen for her. Was it the first day on the beach when he saw her being weak or was it when she had come to him?  
He didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go.

"What are you doing?" Boone asked, pointing at the newspaper. He sipped on his (surprisingly good) coffee, which she had made.

"I'm looking for hotels. Somewhere else to stay." She tried to sound like it wasn't a big deal. They both knew that this day would come, but neither of them had expected it to come so soon.

Boones face hardened. This was what he had been afraid of. Two days and she was already planning on leaving. Perhaps he had been wrong; perhaps she didn't have any feelings for him. Hell, he might have imagined the tenderness between them. Why would she feel anything about him? What did he have to offer besides a place to stay?

Claire didn't want to do this but what other choice did she have? She couldn't stay here with him, it would be too complicated. She searched for words to explain her feelings.

"Do you know what I did earlier today?" Claire asked him. "I was _snooping._ I was _trying _to find out something about you." She sounded disgusted with herself.

Boone knew the feeling.

"It's okay."

He didn't need to say more.

Claire was devastated. How could he think that it was okay that they didn't know anything _important_ about each other? She felt anger taking over her.

"No, it's not." Claire got up from her chair and walked around in the room. "It's wrong," she said, her voice weary.

"It's wrong," she repeated. "..That I don't know you."

There was power in her words, they were true, and both of them wished that they hadn't been.

He felt tears building up in his eyes but he fought them away, not wanting her to see his weak side.

"This isn't working, is it?" He said with a low voice in hope that it wouldn't be as true as if he had said it out louder.

She shook her head.

"No it's not. I'm _pregnant_ Boone. If I stay here you will soon have two persons to take care of," Claire said, hoping that he would understand why she had to do this.

"Like you didn't know that before you came here!" He exploded.

He didn't want to fight but the fact that she would leave him made something click inside of him. His fear of losing her converted into anger.

Claire closed her eyes briefly. This was obviously not working out well.

"I did," she said painfully. "I didn't even plan to stay here more than one night." Claire said with a restrained voice.

He looked at her, disbelievingly.

"So why the _hell_ did you? What _screwed_ up your plan?" He said savagely.

He was unable to control his anger.

"You." She took a deep breath to hold back her tears.

"I'm still here aren't I?" He said, standing up quickly.

She didn't look at him.

"Look at me!" he said, annoyed.

She forced herself to do it.

"This is to complicated Boone," she sighed

"It changes everything if we live together." 

He looked at her with a tortured expression.

"So you just want to leave?" He shot her a look full with hatred.

"I have to."

"Why? Can't two friends live together?" 

Claire looked at him, miserably.

"Friends can. But there is something more between us," she said, saying out loud what had been growing inside of them the last days.

Boone calmed down.

"So what?" He said, his features becoming less tensed.

"We can never be more than friends, don't you see? I would destroy your life" She said sadly.

He looked at her like she was crazy.

"I won't let it happen again," she mumbled for herself.

He couldn't figure out what she was talking about. It sounded like nothing less than Chinese to him.

"Do I have something to say about this?" He said, not wanting her to go.

She shook her head, stubbornly. 

"No."

She once again took her bag and begun to walk towards the door. This time determined to leave. He followed her, not believing how this had happened. He had never in his wild mind thought that she would leave today, not at this instant. 

"Hey..."

She continued to walk.

"Hey!" He screamed.

She didn't turn around.

"Goodbye Boone" She whispered.

She walked out of the door, down the stairs. Boone stood like frozen. She was really leaving and he couldn't stop her.

"You owe me 600 dollars!" He screamed after her, desperately.

He didn't care about the money. 

Angrily he stormed into his apartment. She was gone. He had let her go. When he woke up the next morning, she wouldn't be there.

He smashed his fist against the wall. One time, two times and then he continued to hit the wall harder and harder until his fist bleed. Weakness over took him, and he fell down against it. With his hands buried in his hair he began to cry.

_**If you are reading this fanfiction, please review! I would really appreciate it. I do get reviews on but it's crucial for me to get it here as well to continue to post it here. **_


	8. Chapter 6

_Here comes chapter 6. Please review! Unfortunally Chapter 7 won't be up here in awhile since I will go to Turky on vacation. If you need "your fix", check out Lost forum where my BETA help will post chapter 7 and 8- otherwise I will post them when I get home. _

_Happy reading/ Sue_

_-----------------------------------------_

**Chapter 6**

Hours turned into days, days into weeks. Boone didn't count the time anymore. Nothing mattered, not without her.

At first he had counted the seconds, wondering how far away she could be, if he could still catch her. His heart told him to run after her, to say that he needed her to keep him sane but his head's voice was louder. It wasn't fair to push her into something she didn't want to do. Then he had cursed her, her baby and the Island. He wished that he'd never met her.

Somehow Boone had lost track of time, living his life by routine. He got up every morning with a massive headache from the night it before. He cured it with whiskey, drowning his sorrows in the alcohol the same as he had done the day before and the day before that. He was back in his "carefree" lifestyle with booze and parties. He didn't answer calls, he didn't go to work (which was okay because he was a mama's boy), and he didn't shave. All he did was to drink, eat, sleep and think about her. Her blonde curls, her blue eyes, her smile and her scent.

Lord knows, he had tried to forget her. There where moments when he did too, but she always came back, haunting him. He hated himself for living like this. He hated her.

He walked into his bathroom and stripped himself of his clothes. He took a shower for the first time in what felt like a week. When he was done he sat down in front of the TV. He carefully avoided sitting in the sofa; it reminded him of her. Everything reminded of her. The balcony, the kitchen and especially the things that they had bought together (which she had forgotten to take with her).

Boone changed channel, sighing when he saw that it was a romantic comedy. That was defiantly not his kind of movie. Something caught him though, the woman in the movie. She was wearing a yellow dress, her blonde hair in a bun, a few strands falling down around her face. On a second thought it wasn't the woman, it was what the couple were saying.

"You know what? You did your job.  
You wanted to lose a guy in ten days.  
Congratulations, you just lost him."

Boone was hooked by the tension between the man and the woman on the screen. Even though he didn't knew what had happened between them, he could feel that this was it, the break-up. What the woman answered caused a chill down his spine.

"No, I didn't, Ben.  
'Cause you can't lose something you never had."

Boone turned of the TV, not needing to see what would happen next. The sentence seemed too had come from his conscience. It was like someone had wanted him to see this, to remind him of that he had just lost the only person that he thought he could ever love.

Thousand things went through his head, things that they had said to each other.

"I look forward to get to know you, Boone - Because you're worth it."

_And her laughter..._

"This thing is _temporary._"

"You can't lose something you never had."

Boone got up so quickly that he got a head rush, but he didn't care. He had to get her back into his life! Perhaps he had never had her but he would get her. He would do anything for her. It didn't matter if she didn't feel the same; he had to at least find her, to tell Claire how he felt.

He began to go through the trash. He knew that the newspaper that she had been looking for hotels in should still be in there.

He almost laughed in relief when he found it. It was a short period of joy. There were ten circles in it.

"Damn it!" He muttered to himself.

His eyes skimmed through the pages. Which hotel had she chosen to stay at? There was no way to know but he guessed that she had chosen a cheap place to stay if she was going to stay for a long period of time.

He picked up his phone and dialled the first number.

"Comfort Inn, how can I help you?" A man answered. 

"Good morning. This is Boone Carlyle." He tried not to sound too stressed.

"Good morning, Sir," the man said politely.

"I'm searching for a woman named Claire," Boone said.

There was a moment of silent.

"I need a surname, Sir."

Boone panicked; he didn't know her surname. Christ, he didn't even know that about her.

"I don't have a surname!" He was practically screaming at the person on the other end.

"I'm sorry," Boone said, regretfully. "I really need to find this girl. Please help me."

"I will see what I can do, Sir," the man answered, still sounding polite but Boone could tell that he was polite because he had too.

Boone was surprised that he would even try to help after his little outburst.

"No Claires at this hotel, Sir."

_Damn it!_

"Thanks anyway."

Boone hung up.

He dialed another number in hope that he would have better luck this time. He waited for what seemed like an eternity before someone answered.

"Hello," a man said, breathing heavily like he had just run to the phone.

"Hi! I'm Boone Carlyle and I'm searching for someone named Claire."

"Si Señor! Claire," the man answered. Clearly he was Spanish.

"Is she staying at your hotel?" Boone asked.

"Si, si!" 

Boone's heart didn't skip one beat, it skipped thousands. 

"Beautiful brunette, Claire," the man said, happily. 

_The relief he had felt disappeared. It wasn't her. It wasn't his Claire._

"No. The Claire I'm looking for is blonde."

It struck Boone that she was easiest to describe as pregnant.

"She is also pregnant."

"A si, pregnant lady!" The man said, with his tick Spanish accent. Somehow in all this mess, this one person had brought him a piece of happiness by just being himself.

"She is at your hotel?" He needed to be sure.

"No," the man replied with a mysterious undertone. "She's CWH hospital. Making baby." 

Boone laughed with relief until he realised that she was in labour. It made perfect sense time-wise.

"Thank you!" Boone meant it with all his heart.

Claire was having the baby! He had to go there now, he was not going to let her go through this alone. Boone was full of energy but he couldn't move. What was he supposed to bring? Flowers or baby stuff? He suddenly realised that he didn't know but he didn't have the time to hesitate.

Boone was almost on his way out of the door when he noticed that he was only wearing a pair of boxers. Laughing slightly he went into his room and changed into a white shirt and jeans. He didn't want to look too dressed up but still not sloppy so it seemed like the best choice. Besides, he didn't have much time to worry about clothes when Claire could be giving birth any moment now.


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Chapter 7**

Everything went by in a flash. Somehow Boone had managed to get himself from his apartment to the hospital in a couple of minutes and he had even succeeded to fight away his panic so that he knew what to take with him. He brought clothes for the baby, the baseball outfit, a blanket and a cotton helmet.

Now he was standing at the reception, becoming more and more frustrated by the long queue. God dammit, it wasn't like he had all time in the world. Finally it was his turn.

"Hi!" Boone said kindly. "I'm wondering which room Claire Littleton is in. She's in labour."

Boone was grateful that he had seen her name in a newspaper. It kinda made the whole process easier, and most importantly – faster.

"She's in room: 218, second floor" The receptionist said, smiling towards him.  
"Are you the father?"

"No," Boone answered.

"A relative, perhaps?"

"No."

Boone knew were this was going. If he had to lie to get to her, he would.

"I'm not the father but I'm her fiancé," He said, looking as he had been betrayed by Claire.

"Oh, I see." The receptionist seemed ashamed and for a second he felt bad for lying to her.

"That way," she continued, pointing in a direction.

Boone ran towards the door. He couldn't hear the sound that so often comes when you are dealing with the immense pain of childbirth. As far as he could tell, the labour hadn't begun yet. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what ever reaction that would come from her.

Claire looked up when Boone entered the room. At first, for a couple of seconds or so, she thought that she was hallucinating. That that was a common side effect of being on the edge of giving birth.

"I'm looking for my best friend. Have you seen her?" Boone said smiling his widest smile.

His voice sounded a little uncertain though, as if he was shy to admit that he considered her to be one of his closest friends. But it was all that he needed to say to break down the walls around her. Claire smiled and a tear fell down her cheek, for the first time letting him see it.  
He walked towards her and sat down on the bed, stroking her chin, taking away the teardrop.

"You sure know what to say to a woman," she joked.

He opened his arms and folded her inside them, protecting her. He didn't give a damn about if it was right or wrong, all he knew was that she felt vulnerable now and that he, for the first time since she came to him, had the chance to keep her safe.

"I've had a lot of practice," he murmured into her hair. "You're my first pregnant victim, though."

She started to laugh, but halfway up, the sound caught in her throat, turning into a sob. Boone was confused, but let her cry, just holding her in his arms like he had wanted to do so many times before. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing hard as the tears continued to fall.

Stifling her tears, Claire lifted her face up to his. She could see all the care for her in his eyes. She once again, regretted leaving him. Two weeks had passed but not a single day had passed by without her thinking about him. She had never thought that she would see him again.

"Sorry for being such a cry baby." She whipped her tears away. "How have you been?" She continued in an attempt to change subject.

Boone gave it a thought.

"Claire. I'm going to be honest." He took a breath, looking her right in the eyes. "These last weeks have been miserable without you," he said tearfully. "I've missed you."

She smiled slightly.

"I've missed you too."

"I know that you left because you thought that you would screw up my life."

She nodded, without looking at him.

"You will destroy my life." He paused, seeing her devastated reaction and then continued "…If you walk out of it."

She met his eyes, insecurely.

"You really want this?" She asked, shyly.

That was a question that would come up frequently later.

"Yes," he said, more sure than he had ever been before in his life. "How are you feeling?" He asked, not able to avoid the fact that she was going to give birth.

"Perhaps you could answer that question," Claire said, looking at the doctor that entered the room.

"It looks good," The doctor said, looking at Boone.

Then she turned to Claire.

"Your blood pressures are good."

The doctor took a look on her pad.

"You've opened up about 1.18 inches. It shouldn't take long. Are you going to be here during the labour, sir…?"

"Carlyle, and yes I will," Boone said, giving Claire a determined look.

"No he won't!" She replied through gritting teeth. She met his gaze, challenging him with an even more determined look.

"I will, Claire. I want to be here for you."

"You're so bloody stubbo-"Her voice faded away, being replaced by painful moaning. She was having another contraction.

"That hurt!" She said, giving the doctor a weak look.

The doctor went closer and pushed the nurse button that was placed next to Claire.

"It's going to be okay," the doctor said calmly.

"Easy for you to say! You're not gonna have A BABY COMING OUT OF YOU, RIGHT!" Claire raised her voice, terrified.

She winched in pain when another contraction began.

"This is a big one!"

"I – can – feel – that-" Claire said between breaths.

Boone held her hand tightly, growing more and more afraid by each second. He hated to be powerless, and here, in this situation, there was nothing he could do to help her.

"You can do it," he whispered in her ear.

Deep inside, Claire was thankful that he was still there. Most men would run away like scared rabbits during the circumstances. Like Thomas, who ran away even before the worst part of the pregnancy. That coward. Oh my god, she was glad that she had found Boone.

"Thank you for staying," she said, sincerely, squeezing his hand.

"You're welcome," he replied, smiling at her.

"Miss Littleton. We need you to push," a nurse told Claire.

For Boone, the birth of Claire's son, seemed to went by like a dream. Afterwards, he could only remember the pressure on his hand increasing and then the sudden wail of a baby.

"It's a boy," he heard.

----------------------------------------

"I told you that you could do it," he whispered, kissing her forehead.

He was so proud of her. Taking a long look at her, he knew that he would always remember how satisfied she was, for the rest of his life.

"I'm tired…" Claire mumbled.

"Go to sleep, Claire. I'll take care of the baby."

Claire closed her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. When she woke up a couple of hours later she saw Boone sitting in the chair next to her. Claire smiled at Boone and the baby.

"I think he wants his mommy," he said sweetly and the baby gurgled in response. Boone handed her the small bundle in blue.

Claire giggled with excitement.

"I have a baby boy. A son," she said, proudly, all her fear and doubts that she had had before draining a way when she looked into his blue eyes.

"… And I can see my feet," she laughed.

"There are many things that you can do now, that you couldn't do when you were pregnant." Boone said, holding the baby's hand in his, mesmerized by how tiny the little boy was.

"I know!" Claire said, happily.

She looked at Boone.

"Have you gotten any sleep?"

"I'm not that tired."

He smiled slyly.

"I have something for you. Wait here."

Claire raised her eyebrows, curiously. She waited eagerly for him to return. Her eyes focused on the baby, she couldn't avoid being amazed by how innocent he looked, and the fact that he was hers. She would be there to watch him grow up, go to school, be at an obstinate age (she didn't look forward to that) and perhaps, one day, get married.

But she would be all alone; perhaps she had thrown away her only chance of happiness by leaving Boone? Despite her sad thoughts, she burst into laughter when she saw a huge teddy bear walk through the door.

"I love it!" she said, moved by the gesture.

"Just something I picked up. He needs a home."

"Afraid I don't have one. Her smile faded. "He's gonna be a homeless teddy." Claire had meant it to sound like a joke but there was a sad undertone to it.

"You know that all three of you could move in with me, right," he said, putting down the bear. He sat down in the chair again with a serious expression on his face.

"I know, but we won't," she said, while she was rocking the baby slowly to sleep.

She called the nurse to take care of her son for a couple of hours, knowing that they needed some alone time. They needed to become clear where they stood.

"We have to talk, Boone," she said, looking him in the eyes. "This time, without arguing."

Claire was serious. She had realised the last couple of days that the two of them either laughed or argued. They didn't have any middle and she didn't want it to be like that.

"Sure," Boone replied.

"I'm going to find my own place," She said, straight to the point.

Boone lowered his head of disappointment; he wanted her to stay with him.

"Okay," he nodded, still looking down. He didn't see the small flush on her cheeks as she continued.

"But, I still want you to be in my life."

It was difficult for her to admit and she stuttered a little as she said it.  
Boone looked up again, smiling slightly.

"I would like that!"

They sat quiet for awhile, both of them too embarrassed to come clean about their feelings. Boone finally spoke.

"Claire, that day – when you left- you said that there was something else between us."

She blushed.

"Did you mean it?" He asked, hesitantly.  
"Yes… I have feelings for you, Boone." She paused. "I want to take it slow."

She avoided his gaze and added:

"I don't know if you feel the same."

"I do…" he said quietly.


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Chapter 8

"Are you hungry, sweetie?" Claire said, looking at the baby. "I bet you are," she continued in a ridiculous voice.

Boone laughed.

"How come everybody speak so funny around babies?"

"You jealous? Poor Boony" she said, mockingly, in the same tone she had spoken to the baby with.

"Hey! I'm supposed to make fun of you, not the other way around" He protested but couldn't avoid smiling. When Claire was teasing him, he liked her the most.

"Keep looking for apartments and I will feed the baby…DON'T PEAK!" She said, waiting for Boone to look away.

"Can't promise anything" He said, teasingly but did as he was told.

While the baby drank her breast milk eagerly, Boone mentioned apartments that he liked.

"Here's one that's perfect. 2 rooms and a kitchen! Should be big enough for the two of you"

"What's the catch?" She asked, suspiciously.

"No catch"

Claire was done feeding the baby and went over to Boone. Peeking down in the newspaper she said, "Boone! That's only a couple of apartments away from yours"

He looked like he had been caught.

"Oh really? Didn't see that" He tried to sound surprised, but he wasn't fooling her. She was used to reading him now, she knew if he was lying.

"Hey, it's okay if you did. I think it's a great idea…" She smiled a little as she went on: "You're the only person I've been in contact with here and I'd like to live close to you"

"Great! We'll check it out tomorrow then. You me and…him" Boone said, pointing at the baby in her arms. "Any name yet?"

"Aaron. I think he's an Aaron" Claire said, smiling at both of them.

"I like it" Boone said, truthfully. "Shining light. It's beautiful, just like his mother"

"Is that what it means?" She asked shyly. She didn't know the meaning of the name, she had just liked it.  
"Yeah and Claire means shining so in many ways your names are similar. It's a good choice. Can I hold Aaron now?"

Claire went over to him and handed over her son, her shining light. For the next half an hour she watched Boone making funny faces and rocking the baby to sleep. Claire was amazed by how much love Boone gave her son.

"Come on over here" Claire said when Boone had put down Aaron in the crib.

Boone, once again, obeyed her and sat down beside her in the bed, shoulder to shoulder.

"Feels like we haven't had any time alone today" Claire said, tired.

"It's only ten o' clock Claire"

"Really? Guess babies take all the energy?"

"Need a massage?" He asked gently. She must be worn out after yesterday. It was something that he could never know, how much it must hurt to give birth.

Claire gave him an appreciative look "Yeah! Won't say no to that."

"Lay down" He said and moved so that he sat left to her.

Carefully he began to massage her back, in round circles. He noticed that when he came close to her armpits she began to laugh, still ticklish. He loved that. Then he did his special, moving his hands up and down her spine – she purred. So cute, he thought. Then he moved his hands a little lower, closer to her bottom. He could feel her tensing up, and only seconds later she turned around so that his face above hers.

"That was nice" She said, aware of the fact that his face was only a couple of inches from hers. Unnerved she asked, "Coffee?"

Boone smiled at her insecurity, happy that he could make her feel that way. "Defiantly" he said, rolling off the bed. "We'll need that when the little guy wakes up again. Should get a nurse in here just in case, though."

A couple of minutes later they were sitting opposite each other in the hospitals cafeteria. Boone with a cup of coffee and Claire with tea (she was Australian after all) and both of them had also ordered a huge sandwich. They played their version of 20 questions, in attempt to get to know each other better.

"Favorite movie?" Boone asked and chewed on his sandwich.

"Gone with the Wind" She answered, instantly.

Boone shot her a look of surprise, causing her to defend herself, "It's romantic! Rhett just sweeps Scarlet of her feet. Hate her whining about Ashley all the time, though."

"Perhaps… not really my kind of movie." He twitched his nose.  
Laughing she said, "Oh really? Have you seen it?"

"Uh, not that much of it" He replied, truthfully.

"Then your opinion doesn't count!" She said with a satisfied grin. "Which is your favourite film then?"

"I'd go for something more action-y. Like Matrix"

Claire laughed so hard that tea flew out of her nose. Whipping her nose with a napkin she said, "You can't be serious! Those movies are all pang pang, right?"

Boone raised his eyebrows.

"Have you seen them?" He was mocking her, like she just had mocked him.

Smiling she shocked her head and asked another question before he could tease her more.

"Favorite food?"

"Pizza. Your?"

"Pork in Apple Sauce"

He gave her an "are you serious look"

"It's yummy"

They talked about one hour, asking each other about favorite music, books, living persons, color and that kind of things. In many ways it reminded them of their first night together in L.A. but this time, unlike the other, the could go dig a little deeper, talk about more emotional subjects.

Claire told Boone about Aaron's dad, Thomas, and how he had left her when she was only a couple of months pregnant. Boone, in return, told her more about his complicated relationship to Shannon and how she liked to play with his feeling. He even told Claire, a little bit uneasy, about the time that she and Shannon had slept together, just so that there would be no secrets between them. Claire couldn't deny that it creped her out but she accepted it because it was in the past. The fact that they were able to share these bits and pieces of themselves made them more comfortable in their relationship and how it was processing.

They were sitting, talking quietly when a noise suddenly filled the room. Curiously they tore their eyes from each other and looked around, seeing that the cafeteria was taken over by paparazzo's that was clearly out after them.

"Follow me" Boone said, grabbing her hand.

She was shocked but trusted him. They ran as fast as possible to their room with the paparazzo's close on their heels. Obviously they were attractive to the press now when they were "survivors of flight 815". Luckily, they were at a hospital and the security guards quickly throw them out. Boone and Claire knew that they weren't the only ones being "staked" by the paparazzi. During the last couple of weeks they had seen headlines like "Drive Shaft re-unites" "Fugitive to be judged" and "Survivor signs book deal" but the fuss about them seemed to be a lot more since there was a interest in if they were a dating or not. To Boone and Claire that seemed ridiculous since they didn't even know that.

Now they stood, painting, with their bodies pressed against the door. They hadn't run that long but still it had been physically exhausting.

Claire searched Boone's features with a new sense of excitement. She let her eyes wander from his brown tick hair down to the eyes. Feeling his gaze on her, she continued towards his body, amazed by how well-built he was. She found that incredibly sexy, no doubt about it. His hands were rough but yet, when he stepped closer and touched her hand, they felt soft as silk.

Claire shivered when Boone coaxed her a little closer.

"Claire" His voice was full of desire. "Do you want to do this?"

Claire nodded. She was hardly breathing at all. Everything had become silent inside of her. Boone was afraid to come on too strong, afraid that he might scare her of again like he had done that night in the kitchen.

He closed the gap between them inch by inch, making sure that she had the time to change her mind but Claire didn't back away. A storm swept through them, the same aching need to touch, taste and feel. For Claire it felt like forever until Boone, finally, touched his lips to hers. He kissed her softly, trying to memorize every moment of their first kiss.

Claire pressed her body against his muscular chest, giving him more and more of her, meeting every kiss with hunger. Noticing that her mouth was soft and warm, the way he had thought it would be, Boone increased the pressure of the kiss gradually, letting out all hidden desire and attraction. They kissed hungrily, their tongues intertwined, playfully exploring each other.

There was nothing rough about the kiss, though; it was simply a kiss that satisfied both their needs but still, when they touched and tasted each other, sparks flew through them and as Boone broke the kiss, he thought that this was the only woman in the whole world he wanted.

Where had she been all his life?

They looked into each others eyes, for the first time without any walls between them…


	11. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_A couple of weeks later_

The weeks seemed to go by fast. They were let out of the hospital quite soon and they checked out the apartment the following day and since it wouldn't be available until after one and a half month – they decided that Claire would stay with him until that. To be honest, neither of them was disappointed to live together again but the fact that she would move out sooner or later was a dark cloud on the other so bright sky. Besides that, everything was perfect. They both enjoyed spending time with Aaron and together. When Aaron was awake they watched over him like hawks (others may say like parents to a new born child) and when he was sleeping they did the same. Neither of them was used to have something that tiny to depend on them. 

When they finally began to relax they figured out that they could use the "Baby Watcher" they had bought all those weeks ago. Since they couldn't trust Claire's cooking skills, Boone were the one that made the dinner or at least trying to do it, being constantly interrupted by Claire kissing his neck or taking the spatula away from him so that he had to kiss her. He didn't mind kissing her, in fact he got so caught up in their kissing marathons that he burned the fish sticks – which she teased him for. In the end, their dinner was sandwiches and some more kisses. They simply couldn't resist each other and for them this was something they had wanted to do even on the Island (though they hadn't admitted it then).

It didn't took long until Claire and Boone learned the harsh reality of babies, that they aren't just cute and innocent, when Aaron was crying in full power.

"Shh… What's wrong Sweetie?" Claire said, picking up Aaron from his crib.

Boone watched Claire with her son, amazed by all the love in her eyes.

"Perhaps he needs to change?"

Claire checked if Aaron had wet himself.

"No luck there." She sighed as he moved closer. In a desperate try, Boone began to sing a lullaby and after a while the baby calmed down.

"Do you know that you have a terrible singing voice?" Claire smiled, putting one arm around Boone as she rocked Aaron to sleep in the other one.

Leaning his face closer to hers he said, "Oh really." He said it in the sweetest tone she had ever heard. "Goes well with your cooking then", he whispered tenderly and gave her a quick kiss.

"Besides, I don't hear him complain," he added, looking at Aaron who looked back at him with big eyes.

"Maybe he would if he could speak," she joked. In a blink of an eye she turned serious:

"He's perfect."

She said it with a mother's affection.

"He's got your nose," Boone told her, taking her free hand into his, squeezing it gently.

"…And your eyes" Claire replied hesitantly. Blushing a little when she realised that it was a stupid thing to say.

"I know it's not possible but he does."

Boone smiled slightly. The fact that he wasn't the daddy hit him hard. It was an easy thing to forget when you had been there when the baby was born and had rocked him to sleep the first night of his life. Boone knew that Claire didn't mean to remind him but it still hurt.

"Can I take him?" he asked, needing to hold the cute baby right this instant. 

"Of course." Claire looked at him full of emotion. This man was so far away from who she had thought he would be when she had first seen him on the Island.

She could still remember the first time she had laid her eyes on him. Jack had been with her because she was having contractions but through her fear her eyes had wandered off to the man wearing a blue shirt. She hadn't been able to escape the fact that his looks were perfect but it didn't mean anything to her. A mans look wasn't important. Instead it was the fact that he had tried (and succeeded) to help that woman, Rose, when everyone else was panicking that had caught her attention.

Claire didn't regret that they hadn't spoken more on the Island. It hadn't been their time and place, they had lived separate lives then. Their time was now and their place was here, despite previous problems and arguments. She was beginning to like this man, a lot. She found it adorable that he wanted to be with her son. There were only a few men in this world who would do that without other intensions and she knew that his was absolutely pure, she could see the love Boone had for Aaron in his eyes.

"I think you can put him down now," she said, gently, giving Boone a look that said that she wanted to do something else.

He felt her breathing out a puff of air in his ear. Giving her an amused look he said, "What if I don't want too" His eyes were saying the opposite.

"Then I have to force you," She said teasingly with a smile that made his desire kick in.

He stood like frozen when she slowly took off her sweater and let it drop to the floor. She had a top underneath but Boone knew a gesture when he saw one, he could tell that she wanted to take their relationship to the next level. It didn't take long until he had tucked Aaron in for the night.

When he was by her side he hoarsely whispered that they should move to another room and she didn't protest. Soon they were all alone in her bedroom, they had chosen hers because it was furthest away from the baby, and she made the first move by kissing him deeply in a way that send hunger through his veins. He opened his mouth, pulling her close, kissing her even more deep – playing with her. It was an intense kiss and when he forced himself to pull back she groaned off frustration.

With her mouth still wet she looked up at him with her eyes full with insecurity.

"What?" she asked shyly. _Had there been something wrong with the kiss?_

"Exactly what are we doing?" he said quietly, looking gently at her.

She blushed for a second.

"I think you know," she shot him a look full of lust.

"Is that a good idea?" he asked as much to her as to himself. "You said that you wanted to take things slow" He pointed at her "…And this" He moved his finger so it was pointing at him now "…Isn't."

"I meant it, then, but now we have waited long enough." She was completely serious. She had been really frustrated that she hadn't been able to sleep with him earlier because it had been to close to the labour. Claire couldn't believe that they were talking about this. That was so not what she had wanted to do.

"Boone, if you don't want to do this we don't have to," she mumbled. God let him say that he wants to – She thought over and over again. He didn't move at all or made any indication of what he wanted to do and that frustrated her.

"Well?" She asked with a sharp voice. When he still didn't move she realised that he was afraid that he couldn't see this as just sex, not with her. He was terrified of rushing things.

"I want this Boone." Her voice trembled. He couldn't tell if it was because she was sad or if it was anger. "I want you."

Damn it! It was no way he could say no to her now.

She was standing so that he only could see her back, when she felt his strong hands touching her shoulders and his voice whisper that he wanted her too. She trembled by pure desire. The tension between them was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

His hands found her, followed her contours and then he leaned in to kiss her. His tongue sliding over her teeth, teasing her. She drowned in him, in the feeling of his lips, his tongue against hers. His mouth was hard but his hands almost too careful when they touched her body, finding her sensitive spots. The kiss never seemed to end and it was more passionate than anything she had ever experienced. When he finally lifted his head she was breath taken. Nearly staggering at the heath in his eyes she slid her hand up and down his back and then unbuttoned his shirt, moving her hand beneath it so that she touched bare skin. He responded by letting out a low moan.

When they kissed again their mouths was hot and they didn't even break the kiss when they began to undress the upper part of their bodies. She could feel that he wanted her and that was amazingly arousing. He kissed her throat, her shoulders and then her mouth again, causing her to moan this time. Running her hands over his stomach muscles she mumbled that they should move to the bed, her voice hoarse…

"Wait" he murmured, his hands unbuttoning her bra. Shivering by his cold hands caressing her bare breast she whispered, "I can't."  
Boone understood but determined to let it last longer he brought her face up for another kiss. He growled when he heard the sound of his jeans unzipping.

"Claire" He moved her too the bed and she laid down eagerly, With his help she took of the rest of her clothes, now they were only separated by their underwear. Laying himself on top of her he asked, "You still want to?"

"Oh yes," she said, bringing her hips up towards him.

If it hadn't been her way of saying it he would have found it cliché – like, but her voice and gesture was incredibly sweet.

They discovered each other again, but now without clothes, piece by piece. Touching, kissing and wanting.

"I wanted to take this slow," he said looking her deep into her eyes, "I don't think I can."

She didn't respond, instead pulled in his underwear, trying to show what she wanted, what she needed. He sighed with satisfaction and picked up a condom out of his jeans to be safe.

Claire's body missed the heat of his and she begged, "Boone, hurry."

He obeyed, sinking in to her. Their bodies rocked, moved and screamed of longing and soon it wasn't only that that screamed. He came behind her, collapsing onto her. Afraid that his body was too heavy for her he rolled away and held her hands instead.

"You okay?"

"Yeah"

It had been over quickly, they didn't deny that, but they had all time to make up for it later. Snuggling, they fell a sleep close to each other and didn't wake up until a couple of hours later – when Aaron screamed…


	12. Chapter 10

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The moment Boone woke up he had a feeling that something was wrong and it didn't exactly help to find that Claire wasn't laying beside him like she usually did; it just made the feeling grow stronger. Taking off his boxers, he walked to the kitchen and when she wasn't there, he continued to search.

"Claire" He said with a low voice so he wouldn't wake Aaron.

Walking into the living room he drew a breath of relief. There she was, sleeping in the chair next to Aaron's crib. Not knowing if he should laugh or cry, he watched her instead – this was when he thought that she was most beautiful, in situations like this, unaware that she was being watched. Then again, it didn't exactly hurt that she was wearing a thin nightgown that reviled her body.

Her sleepy voice disturbed him from continuing his sneak peak, "I can feel you looking at me, you know."

"Keep your eyes closed," he demanded and Claire, who saw the sparkles in his eyes, did as she was told.

Coming to her side he gave her a long, lingering kiss and when he broke it, he said with a tender voice, "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." She smiled.

It had been a while since she had felt this happy. Outside the birds were singing, the sun shining and inside she had Boone and her son.

"Slept well?"

"Oh yeah." There was a hint of what had happened last night in his voice. "But woke up lonely."

"Sorry about that. I must have been exhausted." She hadn't meant for it to sound like that.

"Wonder why," he said, grabbing her around the waist to spin her around.

She laughed, charmed by his little impulse. Taking his hand she began to dance slowly with him, despite the lack of music.

"Don't flatter yourself."

He spun her around again.

"I'm not." He put on his famous "I'm hurt" face and said, "You saying it wasn't good?"

She couldn't pretend, not with him.

"Oh, it was more than good."

Dipping herself backwards she said, when she came up to meet his face, "It was amazing."

Turning Claire around he wrapped his arms around her, "I thought so too" He whispered, word by word in her ear. Then he put her hair to the side so that he could peck her neck, going downwards, until she gave up and turned around to give him a real kiss. He sank into it, liking how their dance had turned into this. He could feel Claire winding her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair and trying to get even closer to him, needing to feel the heat of his body as much as he needed to feel hers. His hands moved to her lower back and he brought her closer. Moving her fingers down from his hair she cupped his face, feeling the stubble on his cheeks that had grown out again. The kiss turned hotter, more cravingly and more desire full.

She broke it, not able to do it any longer without wanting more.

"Breakfast?" he asked in a low voice that somehow reminded her of the previous night.

"Yeah."

The day had arrived to their devastation – saying goodbye to their comfy twosome- ness day. Claire have had a feeling in her stomach all day long that told her that she wanted to stay with him, but she would never tell him about it. Besides, it was insane to stay with him only because their relationship had taken a turn. A couple of days ago she had still been set on moving.

Neither of them could know what the future held for them, perhaps they were better off living separately but still… she would miss his weird impulses, his morning smile, his excellent cooking and most of all the way he cared for her and Aaron.

"What's on your mind?" he asked gently and grabbed her hand tightly, as if he was afraid to let her go. He held on to it, pushing the carrier with Aaron in the other hand.

"Uh, nothing really" She managed to smile wryly.

"Why don't I buy that?"

"Because you're bloody stubborn," she said, a little bit annoyed. Why did he have to ask when she couldn't tell him the truth? He would probably think that she was crazy.

"You don't have to sound pissed off!" He let go of her hand.

"I'm sorry, okay?" She looked as if she didn't want to fight, not now, this early in whatever-they-were-having.

Walking into the apartment they looked around, it looked nice now when her furniture had arrived from Australia. For the first time she was officially living in USA.

So this was it, she thought. They wouldn't be living together anymore, they would wake up alone and go to sleep alone.

Aaron's screaming disturbed the silence, to their relief, and Claire watched Boone with dread when he picked up her baby and changed the diaper, knowing that he wouldn't be around to do that all the time.

"Snap! You all set big guy. Boone has changed your diaper," he said to Aaron and put him back down in the crib.

"Should bring over the things you have left in my apartment later."

"Yeah" she said, sounding absentminded.

Tired of her weird behaviour Boone decided to put her on the spot. "I've been _really_ tolerant with the way you been acting all day. I don't expect you to tell me what's going on but it wouldn't be bad if you did!"

"Believe me, I want to tell you but it's so stupid."

"You can trust me, Claire."

Looking at him shyly, "You're going to think that I'm crazy."

"So what? I _love_ crazy people," he joked.

"I-I guess I'm just sad that I won't be living with you anymore." She said with a faraway expression on her face.

"You really scared me." He spoke carefully. "We might not be living together but that doesn't mean that we can't see each other whenever we want to." He paused. "If you let me, I want to be here for you and Aaron."

Kissing him quickly she whispered, "Thank you."

"You feel better now?"

Truthfully she answered, "Yes."

Taking her bag, "Would you mind watching Aaron for an hour or so?"

"Of course not!" That was something he'd always like to do.

"Perfect!"

She smiled mischievously.

"What are you up to?"

"You'll see…"

Smiling warmly and blowing him a kiss she walked towards the door.

"See you soon."

Boone waited for her, thinking about every possible scenario of what she could be doing. Getting bored of just sitting he went over to Aaron.

"Do you think I should do it?"

He was hoping to get an answer from the baby but all Aaron did was to make some strange sounds.

"You're not so good at giving advice," he said, disappointed.

"What do you need his advice for?"

A little bit startled he turned around to see Claire standing in the doorway with bags in her hands.

"I see you've been shopping."

"Oh no, don't you even try to change subject!" She raised her eyebrow. "Why do you need my son's advice?"

To her surprise Boone blushed a little.

"It's about his mommy."

When he saw the look on her face, the peace that was shining through her, he decided that this was the right moment.

"Close your eyes."

Closing them she asked, "Is this the closed-eye- kiss? Cause if it is I'm not comp-" She trailed off by the feeling of something cold in her hand.

"What is that?"

"You can open them now," he said lovingly.

She did, and her blue eyes rounded when she saw what was in her hand, a key.

"Just so that you can come and go as you like."

Not sure of what to say she gave him a long hug. A key to his apartment was a huge sign that they had something special, something more than just a thing for each other.

"I will use this," she said, putting the key together with her own. "…And I will make a copy of this for you." She pointed at her key to her new apartment.

He smiled, "Thanks… Now about those bags, what's in them?"

"Just clothes."

"Something I would like?" he asked, blinking at her.

She laughed, "For sure."

"I got these as well," she said, showing him DVDs of Gone with The Wind and the Matrix.

Smiling he said, "Now we know what we'll be doing all night."

"Yeah, feel free to stay here by the way."

He leaned back on the kitchen counter, "Really?"

"Who else is going to cook for me?"

She joined him, leaning back against his muscular body.

"That's a good point," he wrapped his arms around her.

There they stood, Boone with Claire in front of him, his arms around her, her head against his shoulder, neither of them saying a word, enjoying the silence and the comfort of each others bodies, when Claire's mobile suddenly began to ring.

Sighing, she answered, "Hello?"

She could immediately tell who it was on the British accent.

"Claire! Hi! It's me… Charlie."

"Charlie?"

Claire saw how Boone's face turned harder.

"How you been?"

"Fantastic! The band is back together, rocking the world. That's why I haven't called sooner, because I've been busy."

"Yeah, I kind of read about that."

"Really? We'll must be making it big-time then."

Claire was almost sickened about the proudness in his voice.

She almost wanted to scream to him that he should get to the point. Like he could read her mind (which was scary), he continued, "Anyway, that's not why I'm calling."

He paused, like he was trying to find the right words,

"I wanted to congratulate you and wish good luck with the kid."

"Oh, thanks."

Boone watched as Claire continued to talk to Charlie and every time she laughed or smile, he felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. He couldn't help feeling like this when he knew what kind of bond those two had shared on the Island. There was no way he could compete with that. Maybe, he didn't even want to be thinking this, he was the rebound guy? He wasn't even listening to what she was saying until she raised her voice.

"Who do you think you are?"

There was a pause, obviously because Charlie was speaking.

"Charlie, we didn't have _anything_." Pause. "No, _you_ don't understand. You were only a friend. Nothing more, nothing less."

Slight pause.

"Boone? It's different with him."

She gave him a look, "I love him."


	13. Chapter 11

**Finally, I'm posting a new chapter here. Please review. **

**_Chapter 11_**

One month later Boone could still remember the first time she had said it, those words that had meant the world to him.

"I love him"

Not, "I love _you_", because she had told Charlie that he loved him – Boone.

And now, four weeks later they were deeply in love.

Nothing really happened in their life's, Boone had called his work (that would be his mom) and he had got half an year off too be with Claire and Aaron, and to get a perspective on what he wanted to do with his life.

They both did their best to cope with taking care of Aaron, which wasn't the easiest job. They spent more time together then apart. Mostly at her place. Together, they had painted and decorated a room for the little boy. They felt like proud parents, yes _parents_. Since Aaron's real father wasn't in the picture anymore and Boone had been there from the moment he was born, he considered himself to be his daddy.

Boone's thoughts were interrupted when Claire came home.

"Honey, you won't believe this!"

Smiling at her excited expression he asked, "What?"

"Hurley is rich, and by that I mean _rich!_"

Claire went in too the bathroom.

"The newspaper said that he had won the lottery before the plane crashed"

"Can't see that guy as rich, seems more like a McDonald type than a 5 star restaurant eater to me. Nothing bad about that though, I love that guy – in a non homo way of course – no matter his weight"

"Speaking about weight"

She came out from the bathroom.

"I'm pregnant"

She showed him a pregnancy test. He looked at her shocked.

"Y-you're pregnant?"

Claire looked down on the floor, nodding.

"I thought that we've been safe" His voice was no louder than a whisper.

"We have" She blushed. "Believe me, these things happen anyway"

"We're going to be parents?"

When she didn't say anything he continued in a proud voice, "I'm going to be a dad!"

Surprised she met his eyes, "You want this?"

"Why wouldn't I? I love you and Aaron and one more, _our_ kid, wouldn't be that bad"

"You've obviously not been through the beginning of a pregnancy. I'm going to be the worst person to be around."

"Then I'll be prepared. I want this Claire; I want a life with you. I want the whole package: house, car, dog, a white picket fence and I want to grow old with you."

"I know it sounds strange, coming out of a man of my age, but that's us. There's nothing normal about our relationship. We met on an Island, we barely talked to each other and then you came to me for help. Does that sound normal to you?"

Smiling slightly she said, "No"

"We wouldn't be more ready if we've known each other for years. Let's do this!"

"Yeah"

Boone kissed her, tenderly, one of those kisses that really meant something. A kiss that was beyond physical attraction.


	14. Chapter 12

_PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WANT ANOTHER CHAPTER!_

****

* * *

****

**Chapter 12**

"Very sexy!" He said mockingly, smiling at the funny face she was doing.

She hit him hard on his shoulder, an effect of the alcohol she had been drinking, "Like you do it better," she stuttered.

"You're daring me honey?" He was easily amused too after only a couple of drinks.

They felt like a normal couple for the first time since they've met. The burden of parenthood was temporarily lifted off their shoulders by having Boones cousin Stephanie taking care of Aaron for the night. The alcohol had somehow sneaked in because Claire had constantly been worrying about her son. Their first real date and they were both drunk, isn't that ironic? Perhaps there was the pressure of taking their relationship to the next level too, they hadn't done that yet (despite sleeping in the same bed), and the time was coming up when her body would be ready for it. It was scaring for both of them.

"You up to it?"

She was almost giggling now.

Boone looked at her like she was crazy but then he gave in making a really silly face, which would had scared any person in it's right mind. It didn't scare her, though; instead Claire was almost lying on the floor, laughing so hard.

"You're not that sexy either when you do like that," she finally managed to say.

"Are you saying that you think I'm sexy otherwise?" He asked her curiously.

Their eyes met and sparkles flew through the air. She blushed at the question, "I'm not saying anything"

She zipped on her drink.

"My lips are sealed"

Boone smiled sneaking, "Let's see about that"

A couple of memories forever burned into her brain, that was all she had now, bits and pieces of the happiest time in her life.

The tears came again…

"I'm sorry Boone. I'm sorry that we didn't get more time together"

Claire swallowed, building up her strength again, for her baby's sake.

"We'll make it through this," her voice was barely above a whisper

She didn't know where in the room Aaron was, but she knew that he was in there; her mother instinct told her that.

During the last hour she had been able to calm down, if only enough to think about where she was. A basement, she had decided, seemed like the right answer. Her ears sharpened to the sound of a can rolling over the concrete floor.

Her body was shivering, "Who's there?"

"Anxious to know, huh?" A man's voice replied. It was clearly an American accent, local too, she guessed.

"What do you say, precious? You're tired of being kept in the dark?" He turned on the light pointedly.

Claire blinked, her eyes adjusting. After a while she could see who was standing in front of her. She stared in chock.

"Can you help me, John?" Boone asked frankly.

Locke cocked his head, like he was thinking about it.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to say that it's going to be easy – a walk in a park. We have no clue, whatsoever, of who might have done this or where to begin"

Locke studied Boone. He had changed somehow during the last couple of months, grown. Yet he looked incredible small at the moment.

"I will not give up on her" He held his cup of coffee tightly, still surprised that his mind had been clear enough to make it. A tear was threatening to surface again.

He said it again, to make sure that Locke was listening. "_I won't give up on her Locke. I won't"_

He looked up. Pity. That was what was showing in Locke's eyes.

"Boone…"

"Don't," Boone's voice was harsh, "Don't you dare to pity me. I haven't lost her yet. You're wasting time; we should be out there – trying to find them."

He trailed off.

"Instead you want _coffee_!" He slammed down his cup against the table, getting up from his chair he continued.

"I don't know why I even called you. It's not like you were a great help the last time she was kidnapped. We just happened to find her, remember?"

Locke was hurt by Boone's behaviour but he knew that it was just his fear that was causing him to act like this.

"I know that you're terrified of losing her Boone, but if you don't focus, that might be exactly what you will do"

Boone nodded shortly.

"What can I do?"

"I don't know you"

"That might be what you think Claire, if you don't mind me calling you that, but you and me are connected in so many ways"

There was something about the mans voice that made her whole body to tense, that made her feel inferior and vulnerable (not only the fact that she was all those things), his face rugged face showed that he had been through some rough times in his life. Claire fleetingly thought that he must be around forty years old, give or take but that was pretty much what she could tell.

"Where's my baby?" She asked weakly.

"Your son? He's not _yours_. He belongs to me! You were _supposed_ to give him to us!" The man was practically screaming at her now.

Rugging back, as far as she could get to the cold brick wall, she let it all in. It made perfect sense now, the feeling that she recognised him, but at the same time knew that she never had met him. This was the person Aaron would've had as a father if she had decided to go through with the adoption. Lucas Brighton, 43 years old from L.A. She defiantly saw the similarities of this man and the man she had seen in the picture that the psychic man had showed her. The same blonde sun stroked hair, same significant cheekbones and even similar type of clothes (sweatpants). The big difference was that he wasn't smiling or holding his wife around her waist now.

"I-I'm sorry. Things happened"

Staring hardly at her Lucas paced before her in the room.

"I don't think an excuse is exactly going to cut it this time"

Her eyes widened, knowing that she couldn't talk herself out of this.

"What do you want from me?"

In a harsh tone he continued, "It seems like destiny has given me a second chance. You see, I almost didn't believe it when I saw you walking across the street all those months ago. I followed you and since then I've never let you out of my sight."

He laughed, "I made a fortune out of it too, but that was just a bonus"

She interrupted him, "You want Aaron, don't you? Then if you do, why didn't you just take him, why did you take me as well?"

"You're a really nosy person. If you just stopped babbling for one second, I was going to tell you."

"I'm…"

He slapped her in her face. Shocked she looked at him, not able to do anything else, felling her cheek burning.

"Shut up!"

The slap was a wake up call, a harsh one. Until then Claire had succeeded to be relatively calm but now she was beginning to fall into pieces, at least on the inside.

Her subconscious told her that she had been through something like this before, but she couldn't recall when or how. Boone had hinted that something had happened on the Island but every time she tried to dig deeper, to get a clue of what had happened, he'd avoided the subject. She always gave up too, knowing that there was no point in forcing him to tell her, though she felt like she deserved to know it. After all, it was her life.

Despite feeling a hint of anger towards him each and every tine she wanted to know about her two missing weeks, she never told him that she felt that way, he was too precious to her to get in a stupid fight.

His face was only a couple of inches from hers. Staring hard into her eyes he continued to tell her.

"You want to know what I want? I want a normal life, I want a family. You took away my only chance to that" His voice was shaky and for a while Claire actually thought she saw a tear streaming down his face. He became silent for a couple of seconds, standing up again.

Leaning against a pool table he went on.

"I'm not a bad man, Claire. I've never done a single thing before this, to hurt a person, and I don't want to hurt you either but I have no other option. I love my wife so much that I would do anything for her"

Insecurely she asked, "You can still adopt, can't you?"

Lucas nodded, "Technically, yes, but this man said that we should have any other baby then one coming from you. That it was written in our destinies. You have ruined this one, he said – pointing towards Aaron, that was lying well hidden in a crib across the room, but rumours tell me that you have another one growing inside of you…"


	15. Chapter 13

Sorry for taking so long to update, life has kinda been busy lately :)

Please review!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 14**

2 days had passed by, that was what Lucas told her when she asked. She had no sense of the passing and coming of days, being locked up in the basement where no sunlight was allowed to come in.

She wasn't treated horribly, but that didn't change the fact that she was there against her free will. He's plan was, she assumed, to have her in his sight until she was going to give birth. The thought of spending _months _in there made her feel like she wanted to throw up the food that had been given to her the same morning.

She walked over to Aaron, being allowed a couple of minutes each day to be with him (including the times he needed his mother). Leaning in over his crib, she grabbed his tiny hand and stroked his chin with the other one. She didn't say anything, almost feeling like he understood what her mind was saying.

_Not much longer, Aaron. I can feel help being on the way._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

As they parked in front of the wooden house Boone asked, for like the thousand time, if Locke was sure that Charlie wasn't involved in the kidnapping and if he hadn't heard anything suspicious when he had talked to him over the phone.

"Charlie is not a criminal, Boone. I would even go out on a limb and say that he is widely misunderstood. Just because he used to take drugs, doesn't mean that he is capable of doing something like this."

When Locke saw that Boone was ready to protest, he continued, "This might be a long shot, but it's the most likely option. Imagine the rage this couple must have felt when they didn't get the baby they were promised to get"

Boone nodded, "I understand how they most have felt"

He thought about how he would feel if he ever lost Claire and the children for real. Just the thought of it made him feel weak and useless. What would he do without her? His old life was gone, his "friends" were not a part of his life anymore and Shannon…Shannon had been avoiding him since the day he had rejected her. He had seen her once or twice in the city – but they had awkwardly avoided to meet each other eyes and had just fleetingly, as if they were strangers, said "hi". Claire had occasionally tried to convince him to reconnect with his sister but he had refused too, protesting that _she_ was the one who should make the effort, considering that their lapse out was her fault.

Boone wondered if he ever would seek for comfort in Shannon's arms if Claire was gone, if he would be that weak – so desperate for closeness. Realizing that he had grown beyond that, he walked with Boone towards the door. Boone of the past had tried to forget his loneliness with lots of parties but the present Boone was a man deeply in love, someone who knew that his purpose was to have a family and to provide for them.

In about one month, he would begin to work again, after months off. He didn't want too, but it was necessary if his family was going to survive – that was, if he still had one.

He rang on the door bell, feeling his racing as he heard footsteps approaching.

"Who is it?" A woman asked through the door.

Locke put his finger over hips lips, showing Boone that he took care of this.

"It's the plumber. Your husband just called and said that he needed our help"

The door opened and a women in her mid thirties appeared.

"Oh, come in you two. It's quite chilly out there today"

"Thank you. Now, where is the problem?" Locke asked the question with a professional tone.

"I'm afraid that I wouldn't know and my husband is busy doing…" She stooped, embarrassed, "..a project in the basement"

Both Locke and Boone saw how the woman looked uncomfortable as she mentioned the basement.

Locke immediately began to walk with rapid steps towards the basement, which he had seen when he entered the house. Trisha, Lucas wife, protested loudly, but there wasn't really anything she could do to stop them.

For Boone, those seconds of walking seemed to take a eternity but the moment the time actually froze was when he saw her sitting there on the floor. She saw him too, and from that moment on, they knew that nothing would ever tear them apart again. All they needed now was to hold each other but there was two people in the room, preventing them from doing that.


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 15 - The final chapter**

It felt like she was dreaming, laying in Boone's protective arms.

"I've been thinking," he murmured into her hair. "Do you want to move in with me?"

Claire turned around, looking deeply into his eyes, seeing that he truly meant it.

"Of course," she whispered softly, kissing him, "I love you."

"I love you too."

He pulled her closer, feeling her soft skin against his, breathing her into his heart.

Listening to his heart beat, Claire fell into slumber in his arms.

Kissing her forehead, Boone got up from the bed. He needed to see Aaron, feeling that his family was safe again. He sat there in the chair, watching Aaron sleeping, growing more and more tired, until he finally fell asleep. He didn't wake up till the next morning to the smell of newly breed coffee.

"Good morning, honey," Claire said, sweet as honey. "I hope you don't mind drinking my coffee but you didn't seem…awake enough to actually make it yourself," she teased him.

He had missed this.

"No problem," he said, sipping on the coffee, almost regretting what he had just said.

Claire frowned, "I warned you!"

Boone, who didn't want her to get pissed at him this early in the morning smiled at her.

"I'm still glad it's your coffee I'm drinking."

"I know the feeling," she replied, kissing him quickly.

"Morning Locke," she greeted as the man tiredly walked through the kitchen door.

"I'm afraid the coffee here hasn't been approved by the expert here," she joked, pointing at Boone, "…but you look like you need it."

"Wouldn't say no to it," Locke agreed.

He drank the coffee without saying a word.

When the silence was getting uncomfortable Claire felt like she needed to say something, she chose the first thing that came in mind.

"So how's life been pro-crash?"

"Quite still actually, nothing much has happened." Locke seemed to think about it, "I've started a company which concentrates on adventure trips," he smiled, almost proudly. "It's actually going quite well."

"Sounds exciting," Claire nodded eagerly.

"It's something he always wanted to do, too" Boone told Claire.

"I remember him telling me that on the Island."

Locke smiled remembering all the treks he had done with Boone in the jungle. It seemed like an eternity ago. So many things had changed. Claire was a mum! There couldn't be bigger changes in life.

Locke felt a sting of jealousy. Besides his work he had nothing and sitting there, watching Boone's and Claire's small gestures of love, made him realise that he wasn't getting younger, and he wasn't even near building his own family.

Waving goodbye to Locke was more satisfying then both of them had thought it would be. The main reason was of course that they now could be alone together. Though it had only been days since the last time, and they had survived years without each other before, it seemed like an eternity. Within minutes they were back in their usual mode of mocking and teasing but suddenly they got into serious subjects like the baby's birth and if they should buy a bigger house and if they could even afford that. They both knew that their lifestyles had to change drastically now when they seriously were starting a family, those things cost. 

Boone and Claire also pointed out that they wouldn't be spending that much quality time together anymore but as Boone put it, "We'll take the time. Nothing will ever come between us again, no matter if it's a person or work"

Claire hesitated. "Boone," she looked seriously at him, "You know I love L.A. right?" Boone nodded concurrently. "…I do love it. You are here; my new life is here…but…"

"I knew there would be a 'but'," Boone cut in, "Claire, I've realised a long time ago that you would be homesick. There is, after all, quite a long distance between Sydney and L.A."

"Yeah."

"Hey." Boone lifted up her cheek, as if he was trying to get her back into her good spirit.

"Do you want to move there?"

Claire looked at him surprised, "Oh no! It's just… we'll perhaps we can go there during the winter months here."

She changed her mind, blaming herself, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot that your work is here."

Boone smiled, "One great advantage with working within a wedding company, multiple offices. We have one in Sydney! Of course we can be there a couple of months a year. Your home is my home."

Claire's face lighted up, "Really?"

"Really," Boone replied determined.

"That brings me to something else," he continued, "You can still fly right?"

Claire lifted her eyebrows in surprise, "I guess so," she said hesitantly, "of course, I'll have to ask the doctor first."

"I'm not that happy about getting back on a plane again, but this will be worth it…"

Boone gave it a thought, "Unless we crash, because then..."

Claire, who was almost dying of excitement, cut in, "Get to the point, honey!"

Boone looked sad, but she knew that he was just pretending. "Maybe I don't want to tell you now."

Claire leaned in, kissing him sweetly.

"What about now?"

"I was thinking…what if we spend the holidays in Paris?"

Claire smiled widely, repeating the words she had said the last time Paris came up, "Paris, you want to take me to Paris?"

This time Boone didn't react as strongly as he had done when they had had their confrontation in the kitchen.

"Yes, I want you to come to Paris with me."

On Christmas day, Boone, Claire and Aaron was sitting in their hotel room, in Paris, France, eating Pêche Melba, which they had room serviced.

"Paris is great!" Claire declared.

"I knew that you would like it."

"Don't sound so proud!"

"Speaking about pride, can't we open the presents now? I think you will like them as well," Boone smiled.

They began to open them one by one, Claire getting nice things one after the other. Dresses, jewellery, baby things. Boone wasn't let down by his either.

Suddenly there was only one big present left. "Open it," Boone begged. 

"I will."

Claire ripped it open, only to find a smaller box inside, and so it continued until there only was a tiny case left in it.

Questionly she looked at her boyfriend, "What is this?"

Boone didn't reply.

Claire opened the case finding a beautiful engagement ring in it, as she was recovering from that surprise; Boone fell down on one knee in front of her.

"I was thinking about taking you up to the Eiffel tower and propose there, when I realised that that's not us. We are simple people, Claire, even though we make things difficult. I can't believe it took us such a long time to find each other, and now when we have, I never want to let you go."

Claire's eyes began to fill up with tears when Boone took her hand.

"Please marry me," he said tenderly.

Claire didn't need a second to think about her answer.

"Yes," she whispered, "Yes, I'll marry you."

**  
The End**


	17. Chapter 15

_**So this is it. The end... Thanks for reading. Feedback much appreciated. A One-Shot or sequel to the story may be written. /Susan**_

* * *

****

_**The last chapter**_

"Claire!"

She met his eyes, those eyes she had missed like crazy. She couldn't help but to smile, though the situation wasn't exactly a happy one.

"Let me guess," Lucas said, "You are _him_. The new guy in her life. The dad to _that_."

He pointed at Claires belly.

Boone tore his eyes off Claire and looked at the man who had taken his family from him.

"Yes I am," he said - almost proudly, "What do you want? Money?"

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

Boone looked confused.

"Your girl here owes me a baby and from what I can see, there seems to be one in store..."

"...Thanks to you"

"You're seriously not thinking that I will give _our_ baby to _you_?" Boone replied fiercly.

Claire looked at him, surprised. This was the first tine she had seen pure rage reflecting in his eyes.

"You don't have any choice, I believe," Lucas said in the same tone.

Boone waled furiously over to the man.

"Maybe you should think twice about that" He said, twisting Lucas' arm backwards, taking him by surprise.

"Locke!" Boone commanded.

Locke reacted instinctivly, running towards Claire, loosining the tie around her hands.

"Hi," he said a bit sheepisly.

"Hi," she smiled back, "so how have you been?"

"Let's catch up later, right?" Locke replied jokingly, helping her to stand up by reaching her a hand.

Claire nodded.

She searched for a sign in Boone's eyes of what to do next, and suddenly she got it - Aaron!

She was just picking him up from the crib when Trish, in all her glory, came up to her.

"Stay away from us!" Claire shouted.

"No."

Trish tried to take the baby away from her, when Claire with her free hand, slapped her with all the power in her body.

"It's pathetic," she began sadly, "that you would do this to us"

Trish eyes hardened, penetrating through her.

Softly Claire countinued, "I can't say that I understand what you are going through, I can't even begin to imagiene...but do you really think that seperating a family, a happy one, is the right choice?"

Trish softened, whispering hoarsly, "No"

"Then, please, let us go and we will not contact the police"

Trish looked at her husband who was clinching by the pressure of Boone's hand. They both knew that they had to let them go.

"We'll let you go" Lucas gave in.

Boone let go of him and walked towards Claire, putting his arm around her waist. As they walked out, with Locke close behind, he threathingly said, "If you ever lay a finger on my girl or son again, I swear, I'll kill you.

It felt like she was dreaming, laying in Boones protective arms.

"I've been thinking," he murmured into her hair. "Do you want to move in with me?"

Claire turned around, looking deeply into his eyes, seeing that he truly meant it.

"Of course," she whispered softly, kissing him, "I love you"

"I love you too"

He pulled her closer, feeling her soft skin against his, breathing her into his heart.

Listening to his heart beat, Claire fell into slumber in his arms.

Kissing her forehead, Boone got up from the bed. He needed to see Aaron, feeling that his family was safe again. He sat there in the chair, watching Aaron sleeping, growing more and more tired, until he finally fell asleep. He didn't wake up till the next morning to the smell of newly breed coffee.

"Good morning, honey," Claire said, sweet as honey. "I hope you don't mind drinking my coffee but you didn't seem…awake enough to actually make it yourself," she teased him.

He had missed this.

"No problem," he said, zipping on the coffee, almost regretting what he had just said.

Claire frowned, "I _warned_ you!"

Boone, who didn't want her to get pissed at him this early in the morning smiled at her.

"I'm still glad it's your coffee I'm drinking"

"I know the feeling," she replied, kissing him quickly.

"Morning Locke, "she greeted as the man tiredly walked through the kitchen door.

"I'm afraid the coffee here hasn't been approved by the expert here," she joked, pointing at Boone, "…but you look like you need it"

"Wouldn't say no to it" Locke agreed.

He drank the coffee without saying a word.

When the silence was getting uncomfortable Claire felt like she needed to say something, she chose the first thing that came in mind.

"So how's life been pro-crash?"

"Quite still actually, nothing much has happened." Locke seemed to think about it, "I've started a company which concentrates on adventure trips," he smiled, almost proudly. "It's actually going quite well."

"Sounds exciting, "Claire nodded eagerly.

"It's something he always wanted to do, too" Boone told Claire.

"I remember him telling me that on the Island"

Locke smiled remembering all the treks he had done with Boone in the jungle. It seemed like an eternity ago. So many things had changed. Claire was a mum! There couldn't be bigger changes in life.

Locke felt a sting of jealousy. Besides his work he had nothing and sitting there, watching Boone's and Claire's small gestures of love, made him realise that he wasn't getting younger, and he wasn't even near building his own family.

Waving goodbye to Locke was more satisfying then both of them had thought it would be. The main reason was of course that they now could be alone together. Though it had only been days since the last time, and they had survived years without each other before, it seemed like an eternity. Within minutes they were back in their usual mode of mocking and teasing but suddenly they got into serious subjects like the baby's birth and if they should buy a bigger house and if they could even afford that. They both knew that their lifestyles had to change drastically now when they seriously were starting a family, those things cost.

Boone and Claire also pointed out that they wouldn't be spending that much quality time together anymore but as Boone put it, "We'll take the time. Nothing will ever come between us again, no matter if it's a person or work"

Claire hesitated. "Boone," she looked seriously at him, "You know I love L.A. right?" Boone nodded concurrently. "…I do love it. You are here; my new life is here…but…"

"I knew there would be a 'but'," Boone cut in, "Claire, I've realised a long time ago that you would be homesick. There is, after all, quite a long distance between Sydney and L.A."

"Yeah"

"Hey." Boone lifted up her cheek, as if he was trying to get her back into her good spirit.

"Do you want to move there?"

Claire looked at him surprised, "Oh no! It's just… we'll perhaps we can go there during the winter months here."

She changed her mind, blaming herself, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot that your work is here."

Boone smiled, "One great advantage with working within a wedding company, multiple offices. We have one in Sydney! Of course we can be there a couple of months a year. Your home is my home"

Claire's face lighted up, "Really?"

"Really," Boone replied determined.

"That brings me to something else," he continued, "You can still fly right?"

Claire lifted her eyebrows in surprise, "I guess so," she said hesitantly, "of course, I'll have to ask the doctor first"

"I'm not that happy about getting back on a plane again, but this will be worth it…"

Boone gave it a thought, "unless we crash, because then..."

Claire, who was almost dying of excitement, cut in, "Get to the point, honey!"

Boone looked sad, but she knew that he was just pretending. "Maybe I don't want to tell you now"

Claire leaned in, kissing him sweetly.

"What about now?"

"I was thinking…what if we spend the holidays in Paris?"

Claire smiled widely, repeating the words she had said the last time Paris came up, "Paris, you want to take me to Paris?"

This time Boone didn't react as strongly as he had done when they had had their confrontation in the kitchen.

"Yes, I want _you_ to come to _Paris_ with me"

On Christmas day, Boone, Claire and Aaron was sitting in their hotel room, in Paris, France, eating Pêche Melba, which they had room serviced.

"Paris is great!" Claire declared.

"I knew that you would like it."

"Don't sound so proud!"

"Speaking about pride, can't we open the presents now? I think you will like them as well," Boone smiled.

They began to open them one by one, Claire getting nice things one after the other. Dresses, jewellery, baby things. Boone wasn't let down by his either.

Suddenly there was only one big present left. "Open it," Boone begged.

"I will"

Claire ripped it open, only to find a smaller box inside, and so it continued until there only was a tiny case left in it.

Questionly she looked at her boyfriend, "What is this?"

Boone didn't reply.

Claire opened the case finding a beautiful engagement ring in it, as she was recovering from that surprise; Boone fell down on one knee in front of her.

"I was thinking about taking you up to the Eiffel tower and propose there, when I realised that that's not us. We are simple people, Claire, even though we make things difficult. I can't believe it took us such a long time to find each other, and now when we have, I never want to let you go."

Claire's eyes began to fill up with tears when Boone took her hand.

"Please marry me" He said tenderly.

Claire didn't need a second to think about her answer.

"Yes," she whispered, "Yes, I'll marry you"

**The End**


End file.
